Vantage Investment Partners LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Vantage Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 115,512 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 898 shares during the period. Crown Castle accounts for 1.3% of Vantage Investment Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Vantage Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $13,306,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CCI. Riverview Trust Co grew its position in shares of Crown Castle by 108.5% in the third quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 269 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Almanack Investment Partners LLC. acquired a new position in Crown Castle in the third quarter valued at $28,000. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Crown Castle in the second quarter valued at $29,000. Operose Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Crown Castle in the third quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in Crown Castle by 51.1% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 287 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Crown Castle Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:CCI opened at $95.20 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.73, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.42. Crown Castle Inc. has a one year low of $84.72 and a one year high of $131.43. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $104.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.22. The stock has a market cap of $41.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.73.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.92). Crown Castle had a return on equity of 21.30% and a net margin of 20.32%. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.63 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.91 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $1.565 dividend. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 195.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on CCI shares. Scotiabank reduced their target price on Crown Castle from $133.00 to $118.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Crown Castle from $115.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Crown Castle from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Crown Castle from $92.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Argus cut Crown Castle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Crown Castle currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $117.73.

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.