National Pension Service Increases Stock Position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

National Pension Service raised its holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,085,085 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 123,215 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $128,724,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 107.9% during the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 262 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its stake 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 valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the period. Beacon Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 163.9% during the first quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 285 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. Finally, New Millennium Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CCI. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Citigroup set a $128.00 price target on shares of Crown Castle in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $116.87.

Crown Castle Price Performance

Crown Castle stock opened at $108.36 on Tuesday. Crown Castle Inc. has a 52-week low of $92.48 and a 52-week high of $120.92. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $113.69 and a 200-day moving average of $106.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.43 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 for 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%. Crown Castle’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.77 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a dividend of $1.565 per share. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.78%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is 221.99%.

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.