Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) Shares Sold by Natixis Advisors L.P.

Natixis Advisors L.P. reduced its holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 52.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 192,418 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 214,431 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P.’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $22,164,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. United Services Automobile Association boosted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 23.1% in the third quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 13,411 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,234,000 after acquiring an additional 2,516 shares during the last quarter. Court Place Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter valued at about $201,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Crown Castle by 0.5% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 117,914 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $10,852,000 after acquiring an additional 542 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 8,611.0% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 703,236 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $81,006,000 after purchasing an additional 695,163 shares during the period. Finally, Manning & Napier Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,005,000. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Crown Castle Trading Up 1.0 %

Crown Castle stock opened at $97.39 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $102.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $105.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.43, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.73. Crown Castle Inc. has a 52-week low of $84.72 and a 52-week high of $119.60.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.92). Crown Castle had a net margin of 20.32% and a return on equity of 21.30%. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.63 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.91 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 6.43%. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is 195.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CCI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $110.00 to $109.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $133.00 to $118.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Barclays increased their price target on Crown Castle from $111.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Crown Castle from $126.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Crown Castle from $115.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $113.29.

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.