CIBC Asset Management Inc Raises Position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 8.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 64,047 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 4,737 shares during the quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $7,598,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Crown Castle by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,177,250 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $603,518,000 after purchasing an additional 67,072 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in Crown Castle by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 4,035,561 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $387,333,000 after purchasing an additional 391,127 shares during the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP increased its holdings in Crown Castle by 95.8% in the 2nd quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 2,578,932 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $251,962,000 after purchasing an additional 1,261,536 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in Crown Castle by 4,097.8% in the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 2,524,226 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $246,617,000 after purchasing an additional 2,464,094 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&G PLC grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 1.0% in the third quarter. M&G PLC now owns 2,180,221 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $259,446,000 after acquiring an additional 21,843 shares in the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Crown Castle Price Performance

Shares of CCI opened at $103.80 on Monday. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1-year low of $92.48 and a 1-year high of $120.92. The stock has a market cap of $45.11 billion, a PE ratio of 36.81 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $112.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $106.61.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last announced its 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 net margin of 18.59% and a return on equity of 20.98%. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.77 earnings per share. Crown Castle’s quarterly revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.66 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $1.565 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.03%. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is 221.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on CCI. Citigroup set a $128.00 price target on shares of Crown Castle in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $103.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price 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, Bank of America boosted their target price 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. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Crown Castle currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.