Avanza Fonder AB Invests $3.08 Million in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new position in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 33,964 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $3,083,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 107.9% in the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 262 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the third quarter valued at $47,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 300.0% in the fourth quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 400 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Investors Research Corp raised its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 57.2% in the third quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 423 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Crown Castle Price Performance

Shares of CCI stock opened at $91.03 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $96.96 and its 200-day moving average is $105.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.56 billion, a PE ratio of 32.28 and a beta of 0.87. Crown Castle Inc. has a 52 week low of $84.20 and a 52 week high of $120.92.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($1.03). The business had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. Crown Castle had a return on equity of 20.98% and a net margin of 18.59%. Crown Castle’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.77 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $1.565 per share. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is presently 221.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CCI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Crown Castle from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Citigroup set a $128.00 target price on Crown Castle in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Crown Castle from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. TD Cowen cut their target price on Crown Castle from $127.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Crown Castle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $127.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.00.

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.