UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Grows Position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 433.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,968,959 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 3,225,460 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned about 0.91% of Crown Castle worth $470,838,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quent Capital LLC increased its stake in Crown Castle by 10.9% in the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 2,346 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $248,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Crown Castle by 519.0% in the first quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,355 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,308,000 after purchasing an additional 10,359 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Crown Castle during the first quarter valued at $26,470,000. PGGM Investments bought a new position in Crown Castle during the first quarter valued at $159,000. Finally, Invst LLC purchased a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the 1st quarter worth $717,000. 90.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Crown Castle Stock Down 0.4 %

CCI stock traded down $0.45 during trading on Friday, reaching $106.25. 1,838,361 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,608,444. The company has a market capitalization of $46.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.68 and a beta of 0.86. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $109.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $107.02. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12 month low of $92.48 and a 12 month high of $120.92.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.70 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.77 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.565 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.89%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio is presently 221.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on CCI shares. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $103.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Crown Castle from $127.00 to $123.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup set a $128.00 target price on Crown Castle in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Crown Castle from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $116.87.

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.