Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $1.03 EPS

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) announced its earnings results on Wednesday. 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), Zacks reports. Crown Castle had a net margin of 17.98% and a return on equity of 19.20%. The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.77 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Crown Castle updated its FY24 guidance to $6.97 EPS and its FY 2024 guidance to 6.910-7.020 EPS.

Crown Castle Price Performance

NYSE CCI traded up $0.78 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $112.53. The stock had a trading volume of 868,860 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,629,847. Crown Castle has a 52-week low of $84.72 and a 52-week high of $120.92. The company has a market cap of $48.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.93 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $114.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $105.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.04.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a $1.565 dividend. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is currently 229.30%.

Insider Activity at Crown Castle

In related news, COO Michael Joseph Kavanagh sold 10,883 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.72, for a total value of $1,128,784.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 75,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,792,172.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Crown Castle from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Barclays increased their price objective on Crown Castle from $112.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Crown Castle from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Crown Castle from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Crown Castle from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $115.29.

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.