Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) Issues FY24 Earnings Guidance

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) updated its FY24 earnings guidance on Wednesday. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of $6.85-$6.97 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.91. Crown Castle also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 6.850-6.970 EPS.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CCI. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Crown Castle from $133.00 to $118.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. 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. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $120.00 to $105.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $92.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $126.00 to $123.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $117.73.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

NYSE CCI opened at $95.26 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $104.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $105.10. Crown Castle has a 12-month low of $84.72 and a 12-month high of $131.43. The firm has a market cap of $41.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.77, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.73.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last issued 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 company had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.63 billion. Crown Castle had a net margin of 20.32% and a return on equity of 21.30%. The company’s revenue was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.91 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Crown Castle will post 6.59 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $1.565 dividend. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is 195.63%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Crown Castle

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Crown Castle by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,375 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $322,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Summit Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Crown Castle by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Summit Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,638 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $237,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in Crown Castle by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 3,678 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $679,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. Townsend & Associates Inc grew its position in shares of Crown Castle by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc now owns 1,682 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $238,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its position in shares of Crown Castle by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 2,734 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $505,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

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.