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

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The real estate investment trust reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.92), Yahoo Finance reports. The firm had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.63 billion. Crown Castle had a return on equity of 20.78% and a net margin of 20.32%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.91 earnings per share. 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 1.4 %

Crown Castle stock opened at $94.37 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $105.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $105.07. Crown Castle has a fifty-two week low of $84.72 and a fifty-two week high of $134.09. The firm has a market cap of $41.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.46, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.40.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $1.565 dividend. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.63%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is 195.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $92.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Crown Castle from $126.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Crown Castle from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $120.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $133.00 to $118.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $118.73.

Institutional Trading of Crown Castle

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Certified Advisory Corp acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the first quarter worth approximately $150,000. Mango Five Family Inc. acquired a new position in Crown Castle during the 4th quarter valued at $138,000. Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 648.2% in the fourth quarter. Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 551 shares during the period. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC raised its holdings in Crown Castle by 65.6% in the 1st quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 525 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Castleview Partners LLC lifted its position in Crown Castle by 27.3% in the second quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 573 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. 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.