Avanza Fonder AB Makes New Investment in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 33,964 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $3,083,000.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CCI. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 30.1% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 39,194 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,817,000 after acquiring an additional 9,070 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its stake in Crown Castle by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 42,908 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $4,168,000 after purchasing an additional 2,870 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its stake in Crown Castle by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 21,552 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,106,000 after purchasing an additional 1,171 shares in the last quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Crown Castle by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 19,439 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,899,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Bridges Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the 2nd quarter worth $1,227,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Crown Castle Stock Up 0.4 %

Crown Castle stock traded up $0.38 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $91.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,990,378 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,430,232. Crown Castle Inc. has a 52-week low of $84.20 and a 52-week high of $120.92. The company has a market cap of $39.56 billion, a PE ratio of 32.28 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The firm's 50 day moving average is $96.66 and its 200 day moving average is $105.54.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($1.03). Crown Castle had a return on equity of 20.98% and a net margin of 18.59%. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.77 earnings per share. Crown Castle's revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $1.565 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.88%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 221.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays raised Crown Castle from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $117.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Crown Castle from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their target price for the company from $127.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Crown Castle from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $113.00.

About Crown Castle

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.