Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. Buys 400 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 14.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,080 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $365,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. boosted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 13.0% during 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 boosted its position in Crown Castle by 2.4% during the second quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 3,869 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $376,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 4.4% during the second quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 2,262 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $221,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. True North Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 4.2% during the third quarter. True North Advisors LLC now owns 2,345 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $278,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, Granite Investment Partners LLC grew its position in Crown Castle by 0.5% during 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 in the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays increased their price target on Crown Castle from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Crown Castle from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup set a $128.00 target price on Crown Castle in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Crown Castle from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Crown Castle from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $116.87.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

Shares of CCI opened at $105.44 on Monday. 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 has a 50 day moving average price of $110.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $106.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.39 and a beta of 0.86. Crown Castle Inc. has a 52 week low of $92.48 and a 52 week high of $120.92.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.77 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio 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.