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

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a $1.565 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.64%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 229.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Crown Castle from $127.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Crown Castle from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $115.57.

Insider Activity at Crown Castle

In other news, COO Michael Joseph Kavanagh sold 10,883 shares of Crown Castle stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.72, for a total transaction of $1,128,784.76. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 75,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,792,172.44. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Crown Castle

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. SageView Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in Crown Castle by 65.4% in the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 5,665 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $612,000 after buying an additional 2,240 shares during the period. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the 4th quarter worth $743,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 66.0% in the 4th quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 405 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 594.6% during the first quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 15,699 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,661,000 after purchasing an additional 13,439 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in Crown Castle in the first quarter valued at about $125,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Crown Castle Stock 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 stock has a market cap of $48.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.93 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $113.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $105.00.

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.