Acorn Financial Advisory Services Inc. ADV Sells 111 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Acorn Financial Advisory Services Inc. ADV decreased its position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,947 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 111 shares during the period. Acorn Financial Advisory Services Inc. ADV’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $1,417,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Crown Castle by 4,097.8% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 2,524,226 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $246,617,000 after purchasing an additional 2,464,094 shares during the period. M&G Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the first quarter worth about $221,573,000. Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in shares of Crown Castle by 191.7% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,032,521 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $195,183,000 after purchasing an additional 1,335,644 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP raised its position in shares of Crown Castle by 95.8% during the second quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 2,578,932 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $251,962,000 after purchasing an additional 1,261,536 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Crown Castle by 68,262.1% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,240,088 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $131,239,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238,274 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Crown Castle Price Performance

NYSE CCI traded up $1.64 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $105.85. The company had a trading volume of 1,606,701 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,615,328. The company has a market capitalization of $46.00 billion, a PE ratio of 37.55 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $113.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $106.15. Crown Castle Inc. has a twelve month low of $92.48 and a twelve month high of $120.92.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.70 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.77 earnings per share. Crown Castle’s revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.565 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.91%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 221.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Crown Castle from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Crown Castle from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Crown Castle from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Crown Castle from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price on Crown Castle from $127.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $116.87.

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.