Snyder Capital Management L P Buys 345,692 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. $CCI

Key Points

• Snyder Capital Management L P raised its stake in Crown Castle by 136.1%, buying 345,692 shares in Q3 to hold 599,665 shares worth about $57.86 million (roughly 0.14% of the company).
• Crown Castle declared a quarterly dividend of $1.0625 (annualized $4.25) with an ex-dividend date of March 13, implying a 4.7% yield
• Wall Street consensus is a Moderate Buy with a $100.13 average price target, and institutional investors own about 90.77% of the stock.

Snyder Capital Management L P lifted its stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 136.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 599,665 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 345,692 shares during the quarter. Snyder Capital Management L P owned about 0.14% of Crown Castle worth $57,862,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Crown Castle by 3.0% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,185,915 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $596,876,000 after buying an additional 177,896 shares during the period. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 34.4% during the 3rd quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,290 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $414,000 after purchasing an additional 1,097 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 303,245 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $29,260,000 after purchasing an additional 4,077 shares during the period. CI Investments Inc. grew its holdings in Crown Castle by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 184,756 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $17,827,000 after purchasing an additional 3,099 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Becker Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Crown Castle by 12.1% in the 3rd quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc. now owns 18,934 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,827,000 after purchasing an additional 2,049 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Crown Castle Stock Up 1.0%

CCI opened at $91.19 on Thursday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $87.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $91.54. The company has a market capitalization of $39.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 90.29, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.96. Crown Castle Inc. has a 52 week low of $77.01 and a 52 week high of $115.76.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.0625 per share. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio is currently 420.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on CCI shares. KeyCorp dropped their target price on Crown Castle from $115.00 to $98.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. New Street Research cut Crown Castle from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, January 5th. Raymond James Financial cut their price objective on Crown Castle from $120.00 to $106.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Crown Castle from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $112.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Crown Castle currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $100.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Crown Castle news, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 4,650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.34, for a total value of $401,481.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 25,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,174,300.22. This trade represents a 15.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,000 shares of Crown Castle stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.49, for a total transaction of $262,470.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 5,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at $507,442. The trade was a 34.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Crown Castle Company 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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