Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. Acquires 12,283 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 6.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 217,927 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 12,283 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. owned about 0.05% of Crown Castle worth $23,063,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Crown Castle during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Gables Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 164.0% in the 4th quarter. Gables Capital Management Inc. now owns 264 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 51.1% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 287 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 126.1% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 312 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on CCI. Barclays raised their price objective on Crown Castle from $111.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Crown Castle from $120.00 to $105.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Crown Castle from $110.00 to $109.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Crown Castle from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price on Crown Castle from $133.00 to $118.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Crown Castle has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $113.29.

Crown Castle Price Performance

CCI stock traded up $1.21 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $96.44. 3,191,527 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,888,701. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $102.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $105.28. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1-year low of $84.72 and a 1-year high of $120.37. The company has a market cap of $41.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.14, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.73.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.92). Crown Castle had a net margin of 20.32% and a return on equity of 21.30%. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.63 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.91 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $1.565 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.49%. Crown Castle's payout ratio is 195.63%.

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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