Huntington National Bank Cuts Stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Huntington National Bank lessened its position in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 112,448 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 11,486 shares during the quarter. Huntington National Bank's holdings in Crown Castle were worth $13,340,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in Crown Castle during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 159.0% during the second quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 272 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Crown Castle by 163.9% in the first quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 285 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its stake 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 valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Crown Castle Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of CCI traded up $0.88 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $103.80. 2,289,527 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,603,876. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1 year low of $92.48 and a 1 year high of $120.92. The firm's fifty day moving average is $112.29 and its 200-day moving average is $106.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.62 and a beta of 0.86.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($1.03). The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.64 billion. Crown Castle had a net margin of 18.59% and a return on equity of 20.98%. Crown Castle's revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.77 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $1.565 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.03%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 221.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on CCI. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $103.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $127.00 to $123.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $116.87.

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.