Crown Castle Inc. Declares Quarterly Dividend of $1.06 (NYSE:CCI)

Key Points

• Crown Castle Inc. declared a quarterly dividend of $1.0625 per share, with a distribution date set for September 30th, reflecting an annual yield of 4.0%.
• The company has a payout ratio of 151.2%, indicating it currently relies on its balance sheet rather than earnings to cover dividend payments, although future earnings are expected to allow a more sustainable payout ratio.
• Crown Castle's stock saw a slight increase of 0.4% during trading, currently priced at $105.36, with analysts generally rating the stock as a “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $116.18.

Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, August 6th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of 1.0625 per share by the real estate investment trust on Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%.

Crown Castle has a payout ratio of 151.2% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Research analysts expect Crown Castle to earn $6.58 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.25 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 64.6%.

Crown Castle Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of Crown Castle stock traded up $0.42 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $105.36. The stock had a trading volume of 2,064,410 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,251,399. The firm has a market cap of $45.88 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $103.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $99.51. Crown Castle has a 12-month low of $84.20 and a 12-month high of $120.92.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.02. Crown Castle had a negative net margin of 85.54% and a negative return on equity of 619.62%. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Crown Castle will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on Crown Castle from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Bank of America started coverage on Crown Castle in a research report on Monday, May 19th. They set a "buy" rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. KeyCorp raised their price target on Crown Castle from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays increased their price objective on Crown Castle from $117.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Crown Castle from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the company from $105.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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.

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