Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) Shares Gap Down After Earnings Miss

Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) gapped down before the market opened on Thursday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $115.68, but opened at $112.00. Crown Castle shares last traded at $111.09, with a volume of 446,548 shares traded.

The real estate investment trust reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($1.03). Crown Castle had a return on equity of 19.20% and a net margin of 17.98%. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.77 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were given a $1.565 dividend. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.64%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 229.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on CCI. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Crown Castle from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $112.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on Crown Castle from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. 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 MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $115.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Michael Joseph Kavanagh sold 10,883 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.72, for a total transaction of $1,128,784.76. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 75,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,792,172.44. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Asset Dedication LLC grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 159.0% during the second quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 272 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 163.9% in the first quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 285 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. New Millennium Group LLC bought a new stake in Crown Castle during the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in Crown Castle in the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Crown Castle Trading Down 4.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.04, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $113.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $105.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.93 and a beta of 0.85.

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.