Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Has $8.18 Million Stock Position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC reduced its position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 68,935 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 3,327 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $8,178,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Crown Castle by 23.8% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 17,528,597 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,079,417,000 after buying an additional 3,371,186 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 433.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,968,959 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $470,838,000 after acquiring an additional 3,225,460 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 4,097.8% in the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 2,524,226 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $246,617,000 after acquiring an additional 2,464,094 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 191.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,032,521 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $195,183,000 after acquiring an additional 1,335,644 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP lifted its holdings in Crown Castle by 95.8% in the 2nd quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 2,578,932 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $251,962,000 after purchasing an additional 1,261,536 shares during the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Crown Castle from $127.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Crown Castle from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Citigroup set a $128.00 target price on Crown Castle in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $116.87.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

CCI opened at $101.85 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $108.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $107.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. The stock has a market cap of $44.26 billion, a PE ratio of 36.12 and a beta of 0.86. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1 year low of $92.48 and a 1 year high of $120.92.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($1.03). The business had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. Crown Castle had a net margin of 18.59% and a return on equity of 20.98%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.77 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.66 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.565 per share. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is 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.