Capital Investment Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 19.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 84,925 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,623 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $7,708,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its holdings in Crown Castle by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 97,088 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,812,000 after buying an additional 3,131 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH raised its position in shares of Crown Castle by 37.1% during the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 12,805 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,162,000 after buying an additional 3,463 shares in the last quarter. Green Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 16.5% in the 4th quarter. Green Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 14,845 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,347,000 after purchasing an additional 2,101 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its position in Crown Castle by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 94,230 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,552,000 after acquiring an additional 5,705 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Hawaiian Bank raised its position in Crown Castle by 28.8% in the 4th quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 5,394 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $490,000 after purchasing an additional 1,206 shares during the period. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on CCI shares. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $127.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Crown Castle from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $105.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup set a $128.00 price target on Crown Castle in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Crown Castle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $127.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.00.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

Shares of CCI traded up $0.40 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $84.73. 1,151,128 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,617,189. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.05 and a beta of 0.87. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $98.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $105.97. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12-month low of $84.20 and a 12-month high of $120.92.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last announced 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 firm 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.77 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $1.565 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.39%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 221.99%.

Crown Castle Company 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.