Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Sells 87,350 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 43.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 115,356 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 87,350 shares during the quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $13,144,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Almanack Investment Partners LLC. acquired a new position in Crown Castle during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Centerpoint Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, American National Bank raised its stake in Crown Castle by 234.2% during the 1st quarter. American National Bank now owns 244 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on CCI shares. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Crown Castle from $162.00 to $138.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 20th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Crown Castle from $137.00 to $116.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 24th. Bank of America lowered Crown Castle from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, August 10th. Argus started coverage on Crown Castle in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $140.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Raymond James decreased their price objective on Crown Castle from $128.00 to $126.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $138.56.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

CCI traded down $0.22 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $98.41. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,574,539 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,696,847. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.50. The company’s 50-day moving average is $104.55 and its 200-day moving average is $115.59. Crown Castle Inc. has a 52 week low of $95.73 and a 52 week high of $164.23. The firm has a market cap of $42.68 billion, a PE ratio of 24.98 and a beta of 0.64.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.74). Crown Castle had a net margin of 23.85% and a return on equity of 23.20%. The firm had revenue of $1.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.86 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.80 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Crown Castle Inc. will post 7.13 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.565 per share. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 14th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 158.88%.

About Crown Castle

Crown Castle owns, operates and leases more than 40,000 cell towers and approximately 85,000 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.