KBC Group NV Purchases 290,410 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 333.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 377,510 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 290,410 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV owned approximately 0.09% of Crown Castle worth $44,784,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. grew its position in Crown Castle by 13.0% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 783 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $93,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its stake in Crown Castle by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 3,869 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $376,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the period. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC increased its stake in Crown Castle by 4.4% in the second quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 2,262 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $221,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. True North Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Crown Castle by 4.2% in the third quarter. True North Advisors LLC now owns 2,345 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $278,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Granite Investment Partners LLC increased its position in Crown Castle by 0.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CCI has been the topic of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Barclays boosted their price objective on Crown Castle from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Crown Castle from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Crown Castle from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced 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. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $116.87.

Crown Castle Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:CCI traded up $0.88 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $103.80. The stock had a trading volume of 2,289,527 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,603,876. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1 year low of $92.48 and a 1 year high of $120.92. The firm's 50 day moving average is $112.29 and its 200-day moving average is $106.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.62 and a beta of 0.86.

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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 analysts' expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.77 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.03%. Crown Castle's payout ratio is 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.