Patten & Patten Inc. TN Cuts Stock Holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Patten & Patten Inc. TN trimmed its holdings in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 34.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,292 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,199 shares during the quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $272,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CCI. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 4,097.8% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 2,524,226 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $246,617,000 after buying an additional 2,464,094 shares during the period. M&G Plc bought a new stake in Crown Castle during the first quarter valued at $221,573,000. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in Crown Castle by 191.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,032,521 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $195,183,000 after acquiring an additional 1,335,644 shares during the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP raised its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 95.8% in the 2nd quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 2,578,932 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $251,962,000 after acquiring an additional 1,261,536 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

Shares of CCI stock opened at $104.10 on Tuesday. Crown Castle Inc. has a 52-week low of $92.48 and a 52-week high of $120.92. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $113.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $106.30. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $45.24 billion, a PE ratio of 36.92 and a beta of 0.86.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 20.98% and a net margin of 18.59%. The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.77 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.565 per share. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 221.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CCI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Crown Castle from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on Crown Castle from $127.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Crown Castle presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $116.87.

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.