Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) Stock Price Down 3.1% – Here’s What Happened

Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)’s stock price fell 3.1% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $113.80 and last traded at $115.38. 1,370,969 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 48% from the average session volume of 2,630,948 shares. The stock had previously closed at $119.11.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Crown Castle from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Crown Castle from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Crown Castle from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Crown Castle from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Crown Castle has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $115.40.

Crown Castle Stock Down 1.3 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $49.67 billion, a PE ratio of 35.72 and a beta of 0.85. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $113.75 and its 200 day moving average is $104.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.04, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.43.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.62 billion. Crown Castle had a net margin of 17.98% and a return on equity of 19.20%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.05 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a dividend of $1.565 per share. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 195.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Michael Joseph Kavanagh sold 10,883 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.72, for a total value of $1,128,784.76. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 75,127 shares in the company, valued at $7,792,172.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Crown Castle

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its position in Crown Castle by 2.4% during the second quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 3,869 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $376,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 4.4% during the second quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 2,262 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $221,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Crown Castle by 0.5% in the second quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 19,439 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,899,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Crown Castle by 12.8% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 950 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $101,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HM Payson & Co. increased its stake in Crown Castle by 5.3% in the first quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 2,259 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $239,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Crown Castle Company Profile

Crown Castle owns, operates and leases more than 40,000 cell towers and approximately 90,000 route miles of fiber supporting small cells and fiber solutions across every major U.S. market. This nationwide portfolio of communications infrastructure connects cities and communities to essential data, technology and wireless service – bringing information, ideas and innovations to the people and businesses that need them.