Wellington Management Group LLP Raises Holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 11.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,260,932 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 1,126,394 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned about 2.59% of Crown Castle worth $1,297,147,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of CCI. Operose Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Crown Castle during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Gables Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Crown Castle by 164.0% in the fourth quarter. Gables Capital Management Inc. now owns 264 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Crown Castle in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in Crown Castle by 51.1% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 287 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Crown Castle by 126.1% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 312 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on CCI shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Crown Castle from $110.00 to $109.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Crown Castle from $126.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Barclays raised their price objective on Crown Castle from $111.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Crown Castle from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Crown Castle from $109.00 to $100.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $114.21.

Crown Castle Price Performance

NYSE:CCI traded up $0.82 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $99.10. 2,013,641 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,309,722. Crown Castle Inc. has a one year low of $84.72 and a one year high of $119.50. The company has a market capitalization of $43.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $98.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $106.02. 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 announced its earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.63 billion. Crown Castle had a return on equity of 21.30% and a net margin of 20.32%. Crown Castle’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.91 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $1.565 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.32%. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is currently 195.63%.

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.