Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 2,500 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 546,623 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,500 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.13% of Crown Castle worth $64,846,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 107.9% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 159.0% during the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 272 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Crown Castle Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of CCI stock opened at $105.85 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $46.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.54 and a beta of 0.86. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $113.12 and a 200-day moving average of $106.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1-year low of $92.48 and a 1-year high of $120.92.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last issued its quarterly 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 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 company’s quarterly revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.77 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $1.565 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.91%. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is 221.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on CCI shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Crown Castle from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Crown Castle from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Crown Castle from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup set a $128.00 price objective on Crown Castle in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Crown Castle from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $116.87.

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.