CapWealth Advisors LLC Increases Position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

CapWealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 37,210 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 764 shares during the quarter. CapWealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $4,286,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CCI. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter valued at $642,077,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Crown Castle by 90,084.4% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,487,430 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $473,035,000 after purchasing an additional 3,483,563 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in Crown Castle by 42.8% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 7,083,665 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $651,910,000 after purchasing an additional 2,121,603 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Crown Castle by 217.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,058,133 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $281,439,000 after purchasing an additional 2,096,272 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Crown Castle by 21.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,134,538 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $932,682,000 after purchasing an additional 1,818,910 shares during the period. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Crown Castle Price Performance

NYSE CCI traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $93.02. 1,816,113 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,766,189. Crown Castle Inc. has a 52-week low of $84.72 and a 52-week high of $134.09. The company has a market capitalization of $40.42 billion, a PE ratio of 26.74, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.46, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $105.41 and its 200-day moving average is $105.15.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.92). Crown Castle had a net margin of 21.47% and a return on equity of 21.95%. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.63 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.91 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $1.565 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.73%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 180.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $92.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $126.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $133.00 to $118.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $119.40.

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.