Argent Trust Co Cuts Stock Position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Argent Trust Co decreased its holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 5.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,379 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 508 shares during the quarter. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $760,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CCI. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its position in Crown Castle by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 204,237 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $18,537,000 after buying an additional 8,800 shares during the period. F M Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 19.0% in the fourth quarter. F M Investments LLC now owns 13,472 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,223,000 after acquiring an additional 2,152 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Crown Castle by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 71,742 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,512,000 after purchasing an additional 928 shares during the period. APG Asset Management N.V. acquired a new position in Crown Castle during the 4th quarter worth $20,773,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Crown Castle during the 4th quarter worth about $2,442,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

Shares of Crown Castle stock opened at $96.65 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.27 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $96.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $99.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.54. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12 month low of $84.20 and a 12 month high of $120.92.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $1.565 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.48%. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is -69.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Wolfe Research raised Crown Castle from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $121.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price target on Crown Castle from $102.00 to $99.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Crown Castle presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.88.

Crown Castle Company Profile

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.