Crown Castle Inc. $CCI Position Lifted by Rakuten Investment Management Inc.

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 77,079 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,714 shares during the period. Rakuten Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $5,170,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CCI. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Crown Castle during the 2nd quarter worth $3,326,154,000. State Street Corp raised its position in Crown Castle by 0.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,023,394 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,743,562,000 after purchasing an additional 211,633 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in Crown Castle by 15.7% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 13,463,182 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,094,691,000 after purchasing an additional 1,828,065 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 2.3% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,325,747 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $514,320,000 after purchasing an additional 144,538 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the second quarter valued at about $456,897,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on Crown Castle from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Citizens Jmp cut their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Crown Castle from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $80.00 in a report on Monday, September 14th. Morgan Stanley set a $85.00 target price on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Monday, September 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Crown Castle to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.27.

Crown Castle Stock Down 2.5%

CCI traded down $2.26 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $88.69. 5,388,058 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,165,718. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.88. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1-year low of $65.32 and a 1-year high of $95.07. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $77.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $82.27.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $995.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. Crown Castle had a net margin of 20.12% and a negative return on equity of 42.11%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.12 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 4.40 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 15th will be paid a $1.0625 dividend. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 15th. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is currently 223.68%.

About Crown Castle

Crown Castle Inc (NYSE: CCI) owns and operates wireless communications infrastructure in the United States. Its portfolio includes cell towers and small-cell networks that help wireless carriers expand coverage and capacity.

The company leases space on its infrastructure to wireless carriers and other customers, allowing multiple users to deploy communications equipment on shared sites. Crown Castle has also operated fiber infrastructure and related services, which support small-cell networks and other connectivity needs.

Founded in 1994, Crown Castle serves communities across the United States.