Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) Position Lessened by Moody National Bank Trust Division

Moody National Bank Trust Division reduced its stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,324 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 466 shares during the quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $755,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 46.5% during the fourth quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 1,165 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $106,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Crown Castle by 19.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 84,925 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,708,000 after purchasing an additional 13,623 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its position in Crown Castle by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 97,088 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,812,000 after purchasing an additional 3,131 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH boosted its stake in Crown Castle by 37.1% during the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 12,805 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,162,000 after purchasing an additional 3,463 shares during the period. Finally, Green Alpha Advisors LLC grew its position in Crown Castle by 16.5% in the 4th quarter. Green Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 14,845 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,347,000 after purchasing an additional 2,101 shares during the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Crown Castle Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:CCI opened at $86.65 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.73 and a beta of 0.87. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1-year low of $84.20 and a 1-year high of $120.92. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $97.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $105.81.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($1.03). The company had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. Crown Castle had a return on equity of 20.98% and a net margin of 18.59%. The business’s revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.77 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $1.565 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.22%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 221.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen cut their price target on Crown Castle from $127.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays raised Crown Castle from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $117.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Monday. Citigroup set a $128.00 price target on Crown Castle in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Crown Castle from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Crown Castle from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $100.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $113.00.

About Crown Castle

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.