Buffington Mohr McNeal Decreases Stock Holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Buffington Mohr McNeal lessened its holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 17.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,260 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,901 shares during the quarter. Buffington Mohr McNeal’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $980,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CCI. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the 4th quarter valued at about $581,503,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Crown Castle by 42.8% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 7,083,665 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $651,910,000 after purchasing an additional 2,121,603 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Crown Castle by 21.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,134,538 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $932,682,000 after purchasing an additional 1,818,910 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $201,582,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 18,200.7% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,651,456 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $190,231,000 after buying an additional 1,642,432 shares in the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CCI traded down $0.69 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $95.29. The stock had a trading volume of 2,099,767 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,854,695. The company has a market capitalization of $41.41 billion, a PE ratio of 29.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.83. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1 year low of $84.72 and a 1 year high of $119.50. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $98.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $104.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.73.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.92). Crown Castle had a net margin of 20.32% and a return on equity of 21.30%. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.63 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.91 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a $1.565 dividend. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.57%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 195.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CCI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $126.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $126.00 target price (up previously from $124.00) on shares of Crown Castle in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Barclays upped their target price on Crown Castle from $111.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Crown Castle in a research note on Monday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 price target on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Crown Castle from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $113.53.

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.