Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Invests $1.04 Million in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 8,751 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $1,038,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CCI. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Crown Castle by 24.7% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 157,895 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $17,476,000 after acquiring an additional 31,319 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,088,017 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $603,592,000 after purchasing an additional 203,442 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Business Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $620,000. Quest Partners LLC raised its position in Crown Castle by 3,111.6% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 13,328 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,581,000 after purchasing an additional 12,913 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 7.9% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,059,300 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $125,665,000 after acquiring an additional 77,135 shares in the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

CCI stock traded down $0.09 on Friday, reaching $97.11. 3,698,427 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,674,139. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12 month low of $92.48 and a 12 month high of $120.92. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $106.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $107.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.20 billion, a PE ratio of 34.44 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.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($1.03). The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. Crown Castle had a net margin of 18.59% and a return on equity of 20.98%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.77 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $1.565 dividend. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 221.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Crown Castle from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $103.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Crown Castle from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $117.00.

Crown Castle Company 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.