Deutsche Bank AG Grows Stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Key Points

• Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in Crown Castle Inc. by 60.9%, owning approximately 1.26% of the company valued at $570.4 million after acquiring an additional 2 million shares in the first quarter.
• Several analysts have raised their target prices on Crown Castle's stock, with Raymond James and Citigroup both maintaining "buy" ratings and setting a target price of $124.00.
• Crown Castle announced a quarterly dividend of $1.0625 per share, translating to a 4% yield, with a dividend payout ratio of -39.83%.

Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 60.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,472,921 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 2,072,198 shares during the quarter. Deutsche Bank AG owned approximately 1.26% of Crown Castle worth $570,443,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of CCI. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Crown Castle by 10.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,840,605 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $7,175,256,000 after acquiring an additional 6,341,150 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in Crown Castle by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,144,359 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $557,662,000 after purchasing an additional 58,903 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Crown Castle by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,212,165 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $543,264,000 after purchasing an additional 90,371 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Crown Castle by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 5,194,490 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $471,452,000 after purchasing an additional 19,570 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 24.2% during the fourth 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $124.00 target price (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Crown Castle from $108.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Crown Castle from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. New Street Research upgraded Crown Castle from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Crown Castle from $117.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $116.18.

Crown Castle Price Performance

Shares of Crown Castle stock opened at $105.36 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $45.88 billion, a PE ratio of -9.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.89. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1-year low of $84.20 and a 1-year high of $120.92. The business has a 50-day moving average of $103.13 and a 200-day moving average of $99.55.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Crown Castle had a negative return on equity of 619.62% and a negative net margin of 85.54%. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.62 earnings per share. Crown Castle's revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.0625 per share. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -39.83%.

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.

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