Argent Trust Co Decreases Stock Holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Argent Trust Co lessened its holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 8.1% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,276 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 815 shares during the quarter. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $906,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CCI. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised its position in shares of Crown Castle by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 3,083 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $355,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 32.3% during the 4th quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,184 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $367,000 after buying an additional 777 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the 4th quarter valued at $302,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its position in shares of Crown Castle by 38.0% in the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 20,181 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,325,000 after buying an additional 5,555 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Crown Castle by 58.8% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 14,189 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,634,000 after acquiring an additional 5,252 shares in the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on CCI. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Crown Castle from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Crown Castle in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Crown Castle from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.53.

Crown Castle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CCI opened at $115.17 on Friday. Crown Castle Inc. has a 52 week low of $84.72 and a 52 week high of $120.92. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $111.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $104.09. The company has a market cap of $50.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.99 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.04.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.04. Crown Castle had a return on equity of 19.20% and a net margin of 17.98%. The business had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.62 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.05 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.565 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.44%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 195.63%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Michael Joseph Kavanagh sold 10,883 shares of the business’s 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 owns 75,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,792,172.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

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.