M&G Investment Management Ltd. Sells 451,798 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

M&G Investment Management Ltd. decreased its position in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 18.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,999,157 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 451,798 shares during the quarter. Crown Castle makes up 1.4% of M&G Investment Management Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. M&G Investment Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.46% of Crown Castle worth $229,903,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. United Services Automobile Association grew its position in shares of Crown Castle by 23.1% in the third quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 13,411 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,234,000 after purchasing an additional 2,516 shares in the last quarter. Court Place Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the fourth quarter valued at about $201,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 0.5% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 117,914 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $10,852,000 after buying an additional 542 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 8,611.0% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 703,236 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $81,006,000 after acquiring an additional 695,163 shares during the period. Finally, Manning & Napier Group LLC purchased a new position in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,005,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on CCI shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $110.00 to $109.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $120.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Crown Castle from $133.00 to $118.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Crown Castle from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Argus lowered Crown Castle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $112.64.

Crown Castle Stock Up 2.4 %

CCI traded up $2.47 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $103.53. 1,633,057 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,881,882. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12-month low of $84.72 and a 12-month high of $119.50. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $100.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $106.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.23, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.76.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.63 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.91 EPS. Crown Castle’s quarterly revenue was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

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 dividend yield of 6.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is currently 195.63%.

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.