Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) Stock Holdings Lessened by Bank of Nova Scotia

Key Points

• Bank of Nova Scotia reduced its stake in Crown Castle Inc. by 19.9%, owning 50,687 shares valued at approximately $5.28 million after selling 12,625 shares in the first quarter.
• Several hedge funds increased their positions in Crown Castle, with Allspring Global Investments lifting its stake by 13.9%, bringing their holdings to 35,031 shares valued at $3.67 million.
• Crown Castle recently reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $1.02 for the quarter, exceeding analyst expectations, but also noted a negative net margin of 85.54% and a cut to its dividend payout ratio.

Bank of Nova Scotia trimmed its stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 19.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 50,687 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 12,625 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia's holdings in Crown Castle were worth $5,283,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 9.0% in the first quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 2,663 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $278,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 204,237 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $18,537,000 after purchasing an additional 8,800 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 13.9% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 35,031 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,665,000 after purchasing an additional 4,276 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the first quarter worth approximately $262,000. Finally, Everhart Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Crown Castle in the first quarter valued at approximately $307,000. 90.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on CCI shares. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $124.00 target price (up from $122.00) on shares of Crown Castle in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $116.18.

Crown Castle Price Performance

NYSE:CCI opened at $105.03 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $45.74 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.84, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.89. Crown Castle Inc. has a one year low of $84.20 and a one year high of $120.92. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $103.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $99.51.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.04 billion. Crown Castle had a negative net margin of 85.54% and a negative return on equity of 619.62%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.62 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a dividend of $1.0625 per share. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio is presently -39.83%.

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.

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