Argent Trust Co Has $947,000 Stock Position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Argent Trust Co grew its position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 8.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,087 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 708 shares during the quarter. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $947,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CCI. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 575.0% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 1,285,972 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $134,037,000 after buying an additional 1,095,455 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 24.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,729,215 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $429,224,000 after purchasing an additional 920,428 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 12,290.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 601,303 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $62,674,000 after purchasing an additional 596,450 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,348,000. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 13,717.8% during the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 480,030 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $43,568,000 after purchasing an additional 476,556 shares during the period. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Crown Castle Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE CCI opened at $107.16 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $102.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $99.47. The company has a market cap of $46.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.89. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12-month low of $84.20 and a 12-month high of $120.92.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. Crown Castle had a negative net margin of 85.54% and a negative return on equity of 619.62%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.62 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a $1.0625 dividend. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -39.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on CCI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $124.00 price target (up from $122.00) on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Crown Castle in a research note on Monday, May 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $116.18.

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.