Oak Thistle LLC Buys Shares of 15,662 Crown Castle Inc. $CCI

Key Points

• Oak Thistle LLC established a new stake in Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) in Q4 by buying 15,662 shares, worth roughly $1.39 million, while institutional investors collectively own about 90.77% of the stock.
• Crown Castle pays a quarterly dividend of $1.0625 (annualized $4.25) equating to a 4.9% yield
• Several analysts have trimmed price targets recently, and the consensus rating is a Moderate Buy with an average target price of $98.13.

Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 15,662 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $1,392,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CCI. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Crown Castle by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 16,444 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,714,000 after buying an additional 1,150 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Crown Castle by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 87,611 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $9,000,000 after buying an additional 5,630 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Crown Castle by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,655 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $786,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in Crown Castle by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 15,195 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,561,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC grew its holdings in Crown Castle by 49.3% in the 2nd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 10,913 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,121,000 after buying an additional 3,603 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Crown Castle Price Performance

Crown Castle stock opened at $86.69 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $37.83 billion, a PE ratio of 85.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 0.94. Crown Castle Inc. has a one year low of $75.96 and a one year high of $115.76. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $85.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $89.21.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were given a dividend of $1.0625 per share. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 420.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on CCI shares. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Crown Castle from $116.00 to $105.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Crown Castle from $105.00 to $95.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Crown Castle from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Zacks Research upgraded Crown Castle from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Crown Castle in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $98.13.

Insider Activity at Crown Castle

In related news, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 4,650 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.34, for a total transaction of $401,481.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 25,183 shares in the company, valued at $2,174,300.22. This trade represents a 15.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.49, for a total value of $262,470.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 5,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at $507,442. This trade represents a 34.09% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Crown Castle Profile

Crown Castle is a U.S.-focused communications infrastructure company organized as a real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns, operates and leases shared wireless infrastructure. Its primary business consists of providing tower-based site leases, small cell networks and fiber solutions that support mobile voice and data transmission for wireless carriers, cable companies and other enterprise customers. The company's assets are positioned to enable network coverage and capacity, including the densification projects associated with 4G LTE and 5G deployments.

Its product and service offerings include ground-based tower sites that host multiple wireless operators, distributed small cell nodes and associated fiber backhaul used to connect sites into carrier networks, and site development and maintenance services.

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