Investment Management Corp of Ontario Grows Stock Holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Investment Management Corp of Ontario raised its position in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 48.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,396 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,700 shares during the period. Investment Management Corp of Ontario’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $1,708,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 13.0% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 783 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $93,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 2.4% in the second quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 3,869 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $376,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the period. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 4.4% in the second quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 2,262 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $221,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. True North Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 4.2% in the third quarter. True North Advisors LLC now owns 2,345 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $278,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, Granite Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 0.5% in the second quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 19,439 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,899,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

Crown Castle stock opened at $103.44 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.54. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $108.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $107.09. Crown Castle Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $92.48 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92. The stock has a market cap of $44.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.68 and a beta of 0.86.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($1.03). Crown Castle had a return on equity of 20.98% and a net margin of 18.59%. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.77 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.05%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 221.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Crown Castle from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Citigroup set a $128.00 price target on Crown Castle in a report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Crown Castle from $103.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Crown Castle from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Crown Castle from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Crown Castle has a consensus 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.