Natixis Advisors LLC Acquires 105,703 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Crown Castle Inc. by 29.9%, acquiring an additional 105,703 shares to own 459,268 shares worth approximately $47.87 million.
• Crown Castle reported earnings of $1.02 per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, but experienced a 4.2% decline in revenue compared to the previous year.
• The company recently cut its quarterly dividend to $1.0625 per share, resulting in a 4.0% dividend yield while maintaining a negative payout ratio of -39.83%.

Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 29.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 459,268 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 105,703 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned 0.11% of Crown Castle worth $47,870,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Crown Castle by 24.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,729,215 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $429,224,000 after acquiring an additional 920,428 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 12,290.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 601,303 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $62,674,000 after purchasing an additional 596,450 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,348,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 13,717.8% during the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 480,030 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $43,568,000 after purchasing an additional 476,556 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,380,013 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $397,530,000 after purchasing an additional 436,657 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Crown Castle Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of NYSE CCI opened at $104.97 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average is $102.65 and its 200-day moving average is $99.07. The stock has a market cap of $45.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.88. Crown Castle Inc. has a twelve month low of $84.20 and a twelve month high of $120.92.

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

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Crown Castle from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Crown Castle from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Crown Castle from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Scotiabank raised 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. Finally, KeyCorp raised 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. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average 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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