Becker Capital Management Inc. Buys 9,734 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Becker Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 154.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,017 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 9,734 shares during the period. Becker Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $1,454,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CCI. Versor Investments LP lifted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 120.0% during the 4th quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 8,447 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $767,000 after acquiring an additional 4,608 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Crown Castle by 29.4% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,243,722 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $113,465,000 after acquiring an additional 282,821 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in Crown Castle during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,231,000. Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new position in Crown Castle during the 4th quarter worth $3,083,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 144,766 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $13,139,000 after buying an additional 4,772 shares during the period. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Crown Castle from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Monday, March 17th. StockNews.com raised shares of Crown Castle from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, April 19th. Argus raised shares of Crown Castle to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. KeyCorp upped their price target on Crown Castle from $120.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $99.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $111.47.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

Shares of CCI traded up $0.63 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $106.93. The stock had a trading volume of 3,524,675 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,867,135. The firm has a market cap of $46.56 billion, a PE ratio of 37.92 and a beta of 0.93. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $100.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $98.06. Crown Castle Inc. has a one year low of $84.20 and a one year high of $120.92. 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 (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.72 by ($0.62). Crown Castle had a net margin of 18.59% and a return on equity of 20.98%. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.72 EPS. Crown Castle's quarterly revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $1.565 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.85%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -58.18%.

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.