Chartwell Investment Partners LLC Sells 37,329 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Chartwell Investment Partners LLC lessened its stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 23.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 119,481 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 37,329 shares during the quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC's holdings in Crown Castle were worth $14,174,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Crown Castle during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in Crown Castle in the first quarter valued at $27,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 107.9% in the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 262 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC grew its stake in Crown Castle by 159.0% during the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 272 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Crown Castle by 163.9% during the 1st quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 285 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on CCI shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Crown Castle from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Barclays upped their price objective on Crown Castle from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Crown Castle from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Crown Castle from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $116.87.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

Shares of Crown Castle stock traded down $1.48 during trading on Monday, reaching $104.37. The company's stock had a trading volume of 908,175 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,607,343. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. The firm has a market cap of $45.36 billion, a PE ratio of 37.54 and a beta of 0.86. Crown Castle Inc. has a 52 week low of $92.48 and a 52 week high of $120.92. The business's 50-day moving average price is $113.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $106.30.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($1.03). The company had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. Crown Castle had a net margin of 18.59% and a return on equity of 20.98%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.77 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $1.565 dividend. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio is currently 221.99%.

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.