American Assets Investment Management LLC Purchases New Position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Key Points

• American Assets Investment Management LLC acquired 99,728 shares of Crown Castle Inc. during the first quarter, valued at approximately $10.4 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp and Raiffeisen Bank, significantly increased their holdings in Crown Castle, with Mitsubishi raising its stake by 575.0%.
• Crown Castle recently cut its dividend to $1.0625 per share, resulting in a 4.0% annualized yield, despite reporting a quarterly EPS of $1.02, exceeding analyst expectations.

American Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 99,728 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $10,395,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of Crown Castle by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,144,359 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $557,662,000 after buying an additional 58,903 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Crown Castle by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 5,194,490 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $471,452,000 after buying an additional 19,570 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Crown Castle by 24.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,729,215 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $429,224,000 after buying an additional 920,428 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,380,013 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $397,530,000 after purchasing an additional 436,657 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,176,079 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $379,021,000 after purchasing an additional 207,120 shares in the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CCI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Crown Castle from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Crown Castle from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Crown Castle from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Crown Castle from $112.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Crown Castle from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $105.00 to $125.00 in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $116.24.

Crown Castle Price Performance

NYSE:CCI traded up $0.92 on Thursday, reaching $106.21. The stock had a trading volume of 2,285,234 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,310,148. The company has a market cap of $46.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.89. The firm's fifty day moving average is $103.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $99.65. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12-month low of $84.20 and a 12-month high of $120.92.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. Crown Castle had a negative net margin of 85.54% and a negative return on equity of 619.62%. Crown Castle's revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.62 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $1.0625 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -39.83%.

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.