Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.92 EPS

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The real estate investment trust reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.92), Yahoo Finance reports. Crown Castle had a return on equity of 20.78% and a net margin of 20.32%. The company had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.63 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.91 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Crown Castle updated its FY24 guidance to $6.85-$6.97 EPS and its FY 2024 guidance to 6.850-6.970 EPS.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

NYSE:CCI opened at $94.37 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $41.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.49, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.73. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $105.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $105.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.46. Crown Castle has a 1-year low of $84.72 and a 1-year high of $134.09.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $1.565 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.63%. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is currently 195.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on CCI. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Crown Castle from $133.00 to $118.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Crown Castle from $126.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Crown Castle from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Crown Castle from $92.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $119.40.

Institutional Trading of Crown Castle

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Almanack Investment Partners LLC. acquired a new stake in Crown Castle during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in Crown Castle during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Main Street Group LTD bought a new position in Crown Castle during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Crown Castle during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Crown Castle by 214.1% during the 4th quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the period. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.