Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) Sees Large Volume Increase

Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) saw unusually-high trading volume on Monday . Approximately 1,266,119 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 54% from the previous session’s volume of 2,744,259 shares.The stock last traded at $109.25 and had previously closed at $110.64.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Crown Castle from $115.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Argus cut shares of Crown Castle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $126.00 target price (up from $124.00) on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Friday, June 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Crown Castle in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Crown Castle from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Crown Castle presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.20.

Crown Castle Stock Down 0.6 %

The company has a market capitalization of $47.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.58 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.04. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $102.27 and its 200 day moving average is $102.85.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.58 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.05 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $1.565 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.69%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 195.63%.

Insider Transactions at Crown Castle

In other Crown Castle news, COO Michael Joseph Kavanagh sold 10,883 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was 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 directly owns 75,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,792,172.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Crown Castle

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Foresight Group Ltd Liability Partnership grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 15.8% during the second quarter. Foresight Group Ltd Liability Partnership now owns 143,859 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $14,055,000 after buying an additional 19,641 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 3.9% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,613,436 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $157,634,000 after purchasing an additional 60,260 shares during the last quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its stake in Crown Castle by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 42,554 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,158,000 after buying an additional 2,927 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its holdings in Crown Castle by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 42,908 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,168,000 after buying an additional 2,870 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its position in Crown Castle by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 35,103 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,430,000 after buying an additional 2,201 shares during the period. 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.