Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Increases Stock Position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 101.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 421,652 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 211,933 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.10% of Crown Castle worth $50,021,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CCI. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Crown Castle during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Asset Dedication LLC increased its holdings in Crown Castle by 159.0% in the second quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 272 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Crown Castle by 163.9% in the first quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 285 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 107.9% during the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 262 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on CCI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group upped their target price on Crown Castle from $103.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America raised their price target on Crown Castle from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Crown Castle from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Crown Castle from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Crown Castle currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $116.87.

Crown Castle Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE CCI traded down $0.47 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $102.29. The company had a trading volume of 346,267 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,595,969. 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 company has a market capitalization of $44.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.31 and a beta of 0.86. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $112.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $106.41. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12-month low of $92.48 and a 12-month high of $120.92.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last posted 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). Crown Castle had a return on equity of 20.98% and a net margin of 18.59%. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.77 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.66 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $1.565 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.12%. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is presently 221.99%.

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.