Mizuho Markets Americas LLC Cuts Stock Position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Key Points

• Mizuho Markets Americas LLC reduced its holdings in Crown Castle Inc. by 1.2% in Q1, now owning 1,300,000 shares, which represent 2.8% of its portfolio.
• Several large investors have increased their stakes in Crown Castle, with institutions owning 90.77% of the stock.
• Crown Castle recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.0625, yielding 4.1%, with an annual dividend payout ratio currently at -39.83%.

Mizuho Markets Americas LLC trimmed its position in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 1.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,300,000 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 16,274 shares during the period. Crown Castle makes up 2.8% of Mizuho Markets Americas LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC owned 0.30% of Crown Castle worth $135,499,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA grew its holdings in Crown Castle by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 3,532 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $368,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its holdings in Crown Castle by 18.9% during the 1st quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 672 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC grew its holdings in Crown Castle by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 6,393 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $666,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Crown Castle by 36.6% during the 1st quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 448 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its holdings in Crown Castle by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 37,357 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,894,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CCI. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Crown Castle from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $125.00 in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $125.00 price objective on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $116.24.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

Crown Castle stock opened at $104.58 on Friday. The firm's 50-day moving average is $103.33 and its 200-day moving average is $99.75. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1 year low of $84.20 and a 1 year high of $120.92. The company has a market cap of $45.54 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.80, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.89.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.02. The company 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 company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.62 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $1.0625 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -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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