Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Acquires 14,951 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. lifted its stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 968,170 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,951 shares during the quarter. Crown Castle makes up about 1.3% of Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $111,524,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CCI. Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Crown Castle in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 154.8% in the third quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 395 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 43.6% during the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 372 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Crown Castle by 123.3% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 480 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Crown Castle Price Performance

Crown Castle stock traded down $0.60 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $94.72. The stock had a trading volume of 1,727,593 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,826,341. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.73. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $103.39 and its 200 day moving average is $105.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.73. Crown Castle Inc. has a one year low of $84.72 and a one year high of $123.31.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.92). The business had revenue of $1.64 billion during 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%. The business’s revenue was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.91 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $1.565 per share. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.61%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is currently 195.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on CCI shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $126.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Crown Castle from $92.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $133.00 to $118.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $115.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Crown Castle presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.29.

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.