Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) Shares Sold by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama reduced its stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 658,871 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 33,305 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $78,162,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. boosted its position in Crown Castle by 9.0% in the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 12,100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,435,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp lifted its stake in Crown Castle by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 68,854 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,167,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 12.7% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 11,709 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,389,000 after acquiring an additional 1,315 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the third quarter worth $1,038,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Crown Castle by 16.7% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,374 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $400,000 after purchasing an additional 484 shares during the period. 90.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Crown Castle Price Performance

NYSE:CCI opened at $97.27 on Friday. Crown Castle Inc. has a 52 week low of $92.48 and a 52 week high of $120.92. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $106.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $107.09. The company has a market capitalization of $42.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.03 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 last year, the firm posted $1.77 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.66 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.565 per share. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 221.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their price target on Crown Castle from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $127.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $103.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Crown Castle from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Crown Castle from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Crown Castle currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $116.53.

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.