NEW YORK-Lehman Brothers analyst Blake Bath this week initiated coverage of tower companies American Tower Corp., Crown Castle International Corp. and SpectraSite Inc. with various ratings.
Bath rated American Tower “overweight” with a $16 price target, Crown was rated “equal-weight” with a $15 price target and SpectraSite was rated “overweight” with a target price of $45.
The analyst said he expects both American Tower and Crown’s capital expenditures and new cell sites to increase by 13 percent and 15 percent, respectively, this year. For SpectraSite, he said he expects gross margins to grow 8 to 10 percent in the next five years and free cash flow to grow upward of 20 percent during that time.
Shares of American Tower, Crown and SpectraSite were trading up at $12.27, $14.04 and $38.01, respectively, by mid-day Thursday.
