Oak Thistle LLC Buys Shares of 13,566 Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 13,566 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $1,231,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Crown Castle in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its holdings 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 worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the third quarter worth $47,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC increased its position in Crown Castle by 300.0% during the fourth quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 400 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC boosted its position in Crown Castle by 3,672.7% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 415 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Crown Castle Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of CCI opened at $86.65 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $97.57 and its 200 day moving average is $105.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12-month low of $84.20 and a 12-month high of $120.92. The company has a market capitalization of $37.66 billion, a PE ratio of 30.73 and a beta of 0.87.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). Crown Castle had a net margin of 18.59% and a return on equity of 20.98%. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.77 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $1.565 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.22%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 221.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on CCI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $103.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $127.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Crown Castle from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Crown Castle from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $117.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.00.

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.