Parkside Financial Bank & Trust Boosts Stock Position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 41.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,401 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,286 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $507,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CCI. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Crown Castle by 8.9% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 13,078,861 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,203,648,000 after buying an additional 1,064,382 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 14.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,936,611 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,098,526,000 after purchasing an additional 1,496,330 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 21.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,134,538 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $932,682,000 after purchasing an additional 1,818,910 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of Crown Castle by 42.8% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 7,083,665 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $651,910,000 after acquiring an additional 2,121,603 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Crown Castle by 2.9% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,568,481 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $512,467,000 after acquiring an additional 155,543 shares in the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Crown Castle Price Performance

Shares of CCI traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $95.11. 1,497,691 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,826,092. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.40 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 $128.27. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $104.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $105.37. The company has a market cap of $41.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.73.

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

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $1.565 per share. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.58%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 195.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CCI. Scotiabank reduced 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. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $126.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $120.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $110.00 to $109.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.29.

Crown Castle 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.