Vanguard Group Inc. Has $5.99 Billion Stock Holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 1.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 56,609,569 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 673,243 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 13.03% of Crown Castle worth $5,990,991,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CCI. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Crown Castle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Rational Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Crown Castle during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Gables Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Crown Castle by 164.0% during the 4th quarter. Gables Capital Management Inc. now owns 264 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Crown Castle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, YHB Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Crown Castle during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

CCI traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $105.08. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,313,683 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,507,992. Crown Castle Inc. has a 52 week low of $84.72 and a 52 week high of $119.50. The company’s 50-day moving average is $99.62 and its 200-day moving average is $103.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.04, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market cap of $45.66 billion, a PE ratio of 32.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.83.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.04. Crown Castle had a return on equity of 19.20% and a net margin of 17.98%. The company had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.05 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a dividend of $1.565 per share. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.96%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 195.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Crown Castle from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Crown Castle from $126.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Crown Castle from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Argus cut Crown Castle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Crown Castle from $115.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Crown Castle presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $114.88.

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.