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“Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.”

— Warren Buffett

The above quote from Warren Buffett is timeless, and brings into focus the choice about time horizon that any investor should think about before buying a stock they are considering. Behind every stock is an actual business; what will that business look like over a two-decade period?

Today, let’s look backwards in time to 1999, and take a look at what happened to investors who asked that very question about SBA Communications Corp (NASD: SBAC), by taking a look at the investment outcome over a two-decade holding period.

Start date: 06/17/1999
$10,000

06/17/1999
$229,855

03/29/2019
End date: 03/29/2019
Start price/share: $8.69
End price/share: $199.66
Starting shares: 1,151.08
Ending shares: 1,151.08
Dividends reinvested/share: $0.00
Total return: 2,198.24%
Average annual return: 17.16%
Starting investment: $10,000.00
Ending investment: $229,855.30

As shown above, the two-decade investment result worked out exceptionally well, with an annualized rate of return of 17.16%. This would have turned a $10K investment made 20 years ago into $229,855.30 today (as of 03/29/2019). On a total return basis, that’s a result of 2,198.24% (something to think about: how might SBAC shares perform over the next 20 years?). [These numbers were computed with the Dividend Channel DRIP Returns Calculator.]

Another great investment quote to think about:
“In the short run, the market is a voting machine but in the long run, it is a weighing machine.” — Benjamin Graham