Meritage Portfolio Management Grows Stock Position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Meritage Portfolio Management increased its position in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 103.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 28,228 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,322 shares during the quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $3,252,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lyell Wealth Management LP lifted its stake in Crown Castle by 19.0% in the 4th quarter. Lyell Wealth Management LP now owns 31,690 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,650,000 after purchasing an additional 5,059 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Crown Castle by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 9,701 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,117,000 after buying an additional 587 shares in the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in Crown Castle by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 33,777 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,891,000 after buying an additional 3,260 shares during the last quarter. Bfsg LLC purchased a new stake in Crown Castle in the 4th quarter valued at $92,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the 4th quarter worth $63,000. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Crown Castle Stock Down 1.3 %

Crown Castle stock traded down $1.23 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $94.21. 3,308,569 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,847,121. The company has a market cap of $40.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.73. Crown Castle Inc. has a twelve month low of $84.72 and a twelve month high of $123.79. The company has a fifty day moving average of $104.22 and a 200-day moving average of $105.33.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.92). The company had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.63 billion. Crown Castle had a return on equity of 21.30% and a net margin of 20.32%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.91 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The company 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 of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.64%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 195.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CCI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $120.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $92.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Crown Castle from $133.00 to $118.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Crown Castle from $126.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Crown Castle from $115.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $113.29.

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.