Verity & Verity LLC Has $255,000 Stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Verity & Verity LLC reduced its stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 97.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,150 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 95,746 shares during the quarter. Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $255,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CCI. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the third quarter worth $25,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in Crown Castle during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Asset Dedication LLC increased 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 valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Crown Castle Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of CCI stock opened at $104.59 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.54. The company has a market capitalization of $45.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.09 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $111.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $106.67. Crown Castle Inc. has a 52-week low of $92.48 and a 52-week high of $120.92.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last released its earnings results 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). 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.77 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid 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 5.99%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 221.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup set a $128.00 price target on Crown Castle in a report on Thursday, October 17th. 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 report on Monday, September 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Crown Castle from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.