Avanza Fonder AB Makes New $3.08 Million Investment in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 33,964 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $3,083,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CCI. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Crown Castle by 23.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 17,528,597 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,079,417,000 after buying an additional 3,371,186 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 433.8% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,968,959 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $470,838,000 after purchasing an additional 3,225,460 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 191.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,032,521 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $195,183,000 after purchasing an additional 1,335,644 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 13,271.6% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 973,185 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $115,449,000 after purchasing an additional 965,907 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 20,875,581 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,476,470,000 after purchasing an additional 747,390 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup set a $128.00 target price on Crown Castle in a report on Thursday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Crown Castle from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group upped their target price on Crown Castle from $103.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays upgraded Crown Castle from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $117.00 to $104.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. 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 research note on Monday, October 28th. 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, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.00.

Crown Castle Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of Crown Castle stock opened at $91.03 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.28 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $96.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $105.57. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($1.03). The company had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. Crown Castle had a return on equity of 20.98% and a net margin of 18.59%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.77 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $1.565 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.88%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 221.99%.

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.