Falls with American Tower another dividend growth darling? American Tower $AMT (+1,79 %)
cut a few days ago cut the dividend by just under 5% compared to the last payout. According to the earnings call in 2024 also no quarterly dividend increases will no longer take place.
AMT is thus apparently following the fate of its direct direct competitor. Crown Castle $CCI (-1,09 %) has announced the dividend increase in October 2023 skipped
skipped and, according to the earnings call, will only in 2026 again increase.
In contrast to Crown Castle, however, the CEO of AMT signaled that this is a one-off effect. one-off effect effect. The dividend is to be 2025 therefore increased again again in 2025.
At the same time, it cannot be denied that the coincidence of the "freezing"/cutting of the dividend at AMT and CCI is due to short- to medium-term problems of both companies in the mobile phone mast business business.
Both AMT and CCI are larger positions in my portfolio, which is focused on dividend growth. My conclusion: I remain invested in both as I see medium to long term again stronger growth in the in the core business in the medium to long term, which should then also feed through to the dividends. For me, the dividend freeze represents a short-term headwind that does not fundamentally shake the investment hypothesis for the mobile expansion. However, I will take a particularly close look at the next earnings calls in order to recognize possible alarm signals.
