Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) Shares Sold by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp reduced its stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 115,958 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,956 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $13,357,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Operose Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the third quarter worth $30,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its position in Crown Castle by 51.1% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 287 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Crown Castle by 154.8% in the 3rd quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 395 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its stake in Crown Castle by 43.6% in the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 372 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Crown Castle by 123.3% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 480 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Crown Castle Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:CCI opened at $95.23 on Thursday. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1 year low of $84.72 and a 1 year high of $122.97. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $102.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $105.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.73, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.76, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.76.

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

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $1.565 dividend. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.57%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 195.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on CCI shares. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $111.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Bank of America cut their price target on Crown Castle from $120.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Crown Castle from $92.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective 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, Scotiabank reduced their target price on Crown Castle from $133.00 to $118.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Crown Castle currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.