River Road Asset Management LLC Sells 2,246 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

River Road Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 59,820 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,246 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $7,096,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CCI. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Crown Castle in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in Crown Castle in the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Asset Dedication LLC raised its stake in Crown Castle by 159.0% in the second quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 272 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Crown Castle by 163.9% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised 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 Price Performance

Shares of CCI opened at $108.71 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.25 billion, a PE ratio of 38.55 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.54. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1-year low of $92.48 and a 1-year high of $120.92. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $113.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $106.11.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($1.03). The company had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. Crown Castle had a net margin of 18.59% and a return on equity of 20.98%. Crown Castle’s quarterly revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.77 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on CCI shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target 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 upped their price target on Crown Castle from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Crown Castle from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $116.87.

Crown Castle 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.