Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) Downgraded by Argus

Argus cut shares of Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, Marketbeat.com reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on CCI. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Crown Castle from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $133.00 to $118.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $92.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $126.00 to $123.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $113.57.

Crown Castle Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:CCI opened at $95.08 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.73. The business’s 50 day moving average is $104.62 and its 200 day moving average is $105.37. The stock has a market cap of $41.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.73. Crown Castle has a 52-week low of $84.72 and a 52-week high of $128.27.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.63 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.91 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Crown Castle will post 6.59 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $1.565 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.58%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 195.63%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Crown Castle

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Crown Castle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $581,503,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 42.8% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 7,083,665 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $651,910,000 after purchasing an additional 2,121,603 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 217.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,058,133 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $281,439,000 after purchasing an additional 2,096,272 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 21.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,134,538 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $932,682,000 after acquiring an additional 1,818,910 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Markets Americas LLC purchased a new position in Crown Castle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $201,582,000. 90.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.