Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) Releases Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.92 EPS

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) released its earnings results on Wednesday. The real estate investment trust reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.92), Yahoo Finance reports. Crown Castle had a return on equity of 21.30% and a net margin of 20.32%. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.63 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.91 EPS. Crown Castle’s quarterly revenue was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Crown Castle updated its FY24 guidance to $6.85-$6.97 EPS and its FY 2024 guidance to 6.850-6.970 EPS.

Crown Castle Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of CCI opened at $95.26 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.39 billion, a PE ratio of 29.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.73. Crown Castle has a 1 year low of $84.72 and a 1 year high of $131.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.73, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.42. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $104.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $105.10.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $1.565 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.57%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 195.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CCI. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $126.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $92.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $120.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $133.00 to $118.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $115.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $117.73.

Institutional Trading of Crown Castle

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CCI. Almanack Investment Partners LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Main Street Group LTD purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Crown Castle by 214.1% in the fourth quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

About Crown Castle

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.