Oak Thistle LLC Takes Position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 13,566 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $1,231,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CCI. Quest Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 3,672.7% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 415 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Crown Castle during the 2nd quarter worth about $236,000. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its position in Crown Castle by 22.6% in the 2nd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 27,863 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,722,000 after acquiring an additional 5,135 shares in the last quarter. One Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the second quarter worth about $233,000. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the second quarter valued at approximately $5,762,000. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Crown Castle Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE CCI traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $86.61. 3,053,946 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,064,649. 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 company has a market capitalization of $37.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.71 and a beta of 0.87. The company's 50-day moving average is $97.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $105.81. Crown Castle Inc. has a one year low of $84.20 and a one year high of $120.92.

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

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $1.565 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.23%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 221.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Crown Castle from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Crown Castle from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $103.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $127.00 to $123.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Crown Castle from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $100.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Crown Castle presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $113.00.

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.