Congress Asset Management Co. MA Sells 68,635 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Congress Asset Management Co. MA reduced its position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 96.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,458 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 68,635 shares during the quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $260,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CCI. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Operose Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Gables Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 164.0% in the fourth quarter. Gables Capital Management Inc. now owns 264 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 51.1% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 287 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $126.00 target price (up previously from $124.00) on shares of Crown Castle in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $133.00 to $118.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $115.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $110.00 to $109.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $114.21.

Crown Castle Price Performance

Crown Castle stock opened at $96.50 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $41.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.16, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.82. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $98.18 and its 200 day moving average is $105.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.73. Crown Castle Inc. has a 52-week low of $84.72 and a 52-week high of $119.50.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last announced 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). Crown Castle had a net margin of 20.32% and a return on equity of 21.30%. The firm had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.63 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.91 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $1.565 dividend. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 195.63%.

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.