Kentucky Retirement Systems Lowers Stock Position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Kentucky Retirement Systems cut its stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 7.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 30,274 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,470 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Crown Castle were worth $3,591,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CCI. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Crown Castle in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the first quarter valued at $27,000. Asset Dedication LLC raised its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 159.0% in the 2nd 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 period. Beacon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Crown Castle by 163.9% during the first quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 285 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 107.9% during the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 262 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Crown Castle Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of Crown Castle stock opened at $103.80 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $112.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $106.53. The stock has a market cap of $45.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.81 and a beta of 0.86. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12-month low of $92.48 and a 12-month high of $120.92.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. 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). Crown Castle had a net margin of 18.59% and a return on equity of 20.98%. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.77 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $1.565 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.03%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 221.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Barclays lifted their target price on Crown Castle from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group increased their price target on Crown Castle from $103.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Crown Castle from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $116.87.

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.