Sheets Smith Wealth Management Lowers Holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Sheets Smith Wealth Management cut its position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 6.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,775 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 395 shares during the quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $665,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Crown Castle by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 13,078,861 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,203,648,000 after purchasing an additional 1,064,382 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Crown Castle by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,936,611 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,098,526,000 after purchasing an additional 1,496,330 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 21.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,134,538 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $932,682,000 after buying an additional 1,818,910 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 42.8% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 7,083,665 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $651,910,000 after buying an additional 2,121,603 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,568,481 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $512,467,000 after buying an additional 155,543 shares during the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Crown Castle Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of CCI traded down $1.61 on Monday, hitting $95.78. 1,755,500 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,889,038. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.73, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.42. Crown Castle Inc. has a one year low of $84.72 and a one year high of $119.60. The company has a market capitalization of $41.62 billion, a PE ratio of 30.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.76. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $102.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $105.49.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.92). Crown Castle had a return on equity of 21.30% and a net margin of 20.32%. The company had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.63 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.91 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $1.565 per share. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.54%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is 195.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $110.00 to $109.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a 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 on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Argus lowered shares of Crown Castle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $120.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Crown Castle from $126.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.29.

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.