Bank of Montreal Can Sells 512,018 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Bank of Montreal Can lessened its holdings in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 25.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,520,503 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 512,018 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $177,306,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CCI. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the third quarter worth about $25,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Asset Dedication LLC increased its position in shares of Crown Castle by 159.0% during the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 272 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Crown Castle by 163.9% in the 1st 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 last quarter. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its stake in Crown Castle by 107.9% in the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 262 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

CCI opened at $106.08 on Tuesday. Crown Castle Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $92.48 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92. The firm has a market cap of $46.10 billion, a PE ratio of 37.62 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $110.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $106.94.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($1.03). The business had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. Crown Castle had a return on equity of 20.98% and a net margin of 18.59%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.77 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $1.565 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.90%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 221.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CCI. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Crown Castle from $127.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Crown Castle from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Citigroup set a $128.00 price objective on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Crown Castle from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $116.87.

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.