Fifth Third Bancorp Sells 5,557 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Fifth Third Bancorp lessened its holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 16.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,828 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 5,557 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp's holdings in Crown Castle were worth $2,901,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Twin Tree Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. American National Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 62.1% in the first quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 347 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 95.2% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 408 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the period. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Institutional investors own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CCI. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Crown Castle in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Argus raised shares of Crown Castle to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Raymond James raised shares of Crown Castle from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $128.00 to $122.00 in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Crown Castle from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $118.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Crown Castle currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $112.71.

Crown Castle Stock Down 1.7%

CCI stock traded down $1.74 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $98.29. The stock had a trading volume of 2,299,843 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,911,401. The firm has a market cap of $42.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.85 and a beta of 0.88. The business has a 50-day moving average of $101.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $96.87. Crown Castle Inc. has a 52-week low of $84.20 and a 52-week high of $120.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last released its 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). Crown Castle had a net margin of 18.59% and a return on equity of 20.98%. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.72 earnings per share. Crown Castle's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $1.0625 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.32%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio is currently -39.50%.

Insider Transactions at Crown Castle

In related news, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was 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 directly owns 110,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,762,542.98. This trade represents a 15.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total value of $850,960.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,528 shares in the company, valued at $2,183,563.36. This trade represents a 28.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 31,600 shares of company stock valued at $3,362,752. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

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.