Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Boosts Stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 13.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 56,815 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 6,917 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $6,545,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CCI. Riverview Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 108.5% in the 3rd quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 269 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Almanack Investment Partners LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 51.1% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 287 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Crown Castle Stock Up 1.4 %

CCI stock opened at $94.37 on Friday. Crown Castle Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $84.72 and a fifty-two week high of $134.09. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $105.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $105.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.46, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.40. The company has a market capitalization of $41.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.73.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.92). Crown Castle had a return on equity of 20.78% and a net margin of 20.32%. The firm had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.63 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.91 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $1.565 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.63%. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is currently 195.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Crown Castle from $133.00 to $118.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Crown Castle from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Crown Castle from $92.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Crown Castle from $126.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $119.40.

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.