Essex Financial Services Inc. Sells 2,396 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Essex Financial Services Inc. decreased its position in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 36.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,159 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,396 shares during the quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $479,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 8.9% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 13,078,861 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,203,648,000 after buying an additional 1,064,382 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 14.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,936,611 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,098,526,000 after purchasing an additional 1,496,330 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 21.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,134,538 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $932,682,000 after purchasing an additional 1,818,910 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in Crown Castle by 42.8% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 7,083,665 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $651,910,000 after buying an additional 2,121,603 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Crown Castle by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,568,481 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $512,467,000 after buying an additional 155,543 shares during the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Crown Castle Price Performance

CCI stock opened at $97.39 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $102.61 and a 200-day moving average of $105.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.76. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12 month low of $84.72 and a 12 month high of $119.60.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.92). The firm had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.63 billion. Crown Castle had a net margin of 20.32% and a return on equity of 21.30%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.91 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.43%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 195.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CCI. Argus lowered shares of Crown Castle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Crown Castle from $115.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $110.00 to $109.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $111.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Crown Castle from $92.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.29.

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.