Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Increases Holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,115 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 612 shares during the quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $1,856,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its stake in Crown Castle by 51.1% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 287 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Operose Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Crown Castle by 154.8% during the third 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Crown Castle Price Performance

CCI stock opened at $97.39 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $42.32 billion, a PE ratio of 30.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.73. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $102.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $105.49. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12-month low of $84.72 and a 12-month high of $119.60.

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

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $1.565 per share. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.43%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 195.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $126.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Crown Castle from $110.00 to $109.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Crown Castle from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Crown Castle from $120.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $92.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Crown Castle has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.29.

Crown Castle 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.