Sandhill Capital Partners LLC Decreases Stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Sandhill Capital Partners LLC cut its holdings in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 44.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 14,002 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 11,110 shares during the quarter. Sandhill Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $1,613,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CCI. Operose Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 51.1% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 287 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 154.8% during the 3rd quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 395 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 43.6% during the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 372 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Crown Castle by 123.3% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 480 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the period. 90.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Crown Castle Trading Down 1.3 %

CCI traded down $1.24 on Thursday, hitting $94.20. The company had a trading volume of 3,334,130 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,847,440. The firm has a market cap of $40.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.83, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.73. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $104.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $105.33. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1 year low of $84.72 and a 1 year high of $123.79.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.92). The firm had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.63 billion. Crown Castle had a net margin of 20.32% and a return on equity of 21.30%. The business’s revenue was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.65%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 195.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on CCI shares. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $133.00 to $118.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $111.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $115.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $126.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $113.29.

Crown Castle Company 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.