Erste Asset Management GmbH Acquires New Position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new position in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 11,300 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $1,318,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Adelante Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Crown Castle by 207.9% during the third quarter. Adelante Capital Management LLC now owns 44,259 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $5,250,000 after acquiring an additional 29,883 shares during the period. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Crown Castle during the third quarter valued at approximately $267,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its holdings in Crown Castle by 86.7% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 560,000 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $66,433,000 after buying an additional 260,000 shares during the period. White Knight Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Crown Castle by 2.7% during the third quarter. White Knight Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,534 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $656,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the period. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC increased its holdings in Crown Castle by 2.8% during the third quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 41,329 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $4,903,000 after buying an additional 1,111 shares during the period. 90.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CCI. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $127.00 to $123.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Crown Castle currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $116.87.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

NYSE CCI traded down $1.25 on Wednesday, reaching $103.44. 3,403,076 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,608,576. The firm has a market cap of $44.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.68 and a beta of 0.86. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $108.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $107.09. Crown Castle Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $92.48 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.54.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 net margin of 18.59% and a return on equity of 20.98%. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.77 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.565 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.05%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio is currently 221.99%.

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.