CNB Bank Sells 1,373 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

CNB Bank lessened its position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 43.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,757 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,373 shares during the period. CNB Bank’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $183,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CCI. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the 4th quarter worth $561,714,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Crown Castle by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,499,455 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,672,451,000 after buying an additional 5,934,615 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 18.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 20,849,846 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,892,332,000 after buying an additional 3,321,249 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 37.3% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 5,793,842 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $525,849,000 after buying an additional 1,573,043 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the fourth quarter valued at about $95,167,000. Institutional investors own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CCI. New Street Research upgraded shares of Crown Castle from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wolfe Research raised Crown Castle from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Crown Castle from $99.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Argus upgraded Crown Castle to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Crown Castle from $121.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $112.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crown Castle

In other news, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of Crown Castle stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.72, for a total value of $384,192.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,465 shares in the company, valued at $689,944.80. This trade represents a 35.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.38, for a total transaction of $2,127,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 110,571 shares in the company, valued at $11,762,542.98. The trade was a 15.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 31,600 shares of company stock worth $3,362,752 over the last ninety days. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

NYSE CCI opened at $100.43 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $43.73 billion, a PE ratio of -9.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. Crown Castle Inc. has a 52-week low of $84.20 and a 52-week high of $120.92. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $101.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $96.69.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.72 by ($0.62). The company had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. Crown Castle had a negative return on equity of 164.40% and a negative net margin of 78.12%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.72 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $1.0625 dividend. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.23%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is currently -39.50%.

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.