Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Has $45.91 Million Position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 398,516 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 5,815 shares during the quarter. Crown Castle makes up approximately 0.9% of Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System owned 0.09% of Crown Castle worth $45,905,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its stake in Crown Castle by 51.1% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 287 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Crown Castle by 126.1% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 312 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Operose Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 43.6% during the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 372 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Crown Castle by 154.8% during the 3rd quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 395 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the period. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

Shares of CCI stock traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $95.87. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,976,978 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,891,942. The stock has a market cap of $41.66 billion, a PE ratio of 30.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.76. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12-month low of $84.72 and a 12-month high of $119.60. The company has a 50 day moving average of $102.18 and a 200 day moving average of $105.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.73.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). Crown Castle had a return on equity of 21.30% and a net margin of 20.32%. The company had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.63 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.91 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $1.565 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.53%. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is 195.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CCI. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $109.00 to $100.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $133.00 to $118.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Crown Castle from $110.00 to $109.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on Crown Castle from $120.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Crown Castle currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $112.64.

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.