BNP Paribas Financial Markets Sells 52,946 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets decreased its position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 8.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 565,276 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 52,946 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Crown Castle were worth $67,059,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 24.7% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 157,895 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $17,476,000 after purchasing an additional 31,319 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,088,017 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $603,592,000 after purchasing an additional 203,442 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 3,111.6% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 13,328 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,581,000 after purchasing an additional 12,913 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,059,300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $125,665,000 after purchasing an additional 77,135 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 2,706.0% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 105,563 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $12,523,000 after purchasing an additional 101,801 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Crown Castle Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE CCI opened at $106.69 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $109.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $106.98. The firm has a market cap of $46.37 billion, a PE ratio of 37.83 and a beta of 0.86. Crown Castle Inc. has a twelve month low of $92.48 and a twelve month high of $120.92.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last issued 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). The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. Crown Castle had a net margin of 18.59% and a return on equity of 20.98%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.77 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $1.565 dividend. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.87%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is 221.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CCI. Bank of America lifted their target price on Crown Castle from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on 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 boosted their price objective on Crown Castle from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Crown Castle from $127.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Crown Castle from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $116.87.

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.