Van ECK Associates Corp Boosts Position in Crown Castle Inc. $CCI

Key Points

• Van ECK Associates raised its stake in Crown Castle by 9.5%, owning 185,437 shares after buying an additional 16,025 shares worth about $17.9 million at quarter end.
• Heavy institutional activity: Norges Bank opened a ~$629M position and Lazard boosted its holding to 5,472,810 shares (~$562M), leaving about 90.77% of the stock owned by hedge funds and other institutions.
• Crown Castle declared a quarterly dividend of $1.0625 (annualized $4.25, yield 4.9%), though the company’s dividend payout ratio is very high at 420.79%.

Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 9.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 185,437 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 16,025 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp's holdings in Crown Castle were worth $17,893,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Crown Castle during the second quarter valued at approximately $629,431,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 3,051.5% during the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,472,810 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $562,221,000 after acquiring an additional 5,299,155 shares during the last quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the 3rd quarter worth $121,726,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Crown Castle by 33.9% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,657,030 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $375,697,000 after acquiring an additional 926,721 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the 3rd quarter valued at $75,464,000. 90.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on CCI shares. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on Crown Castle from $112.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 12th. New Street Research lowered Crown Castle from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, January 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Crown Castle from $105.00 to $95.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Crown Castle from $101.00 to $91.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Crown Castle from $97.00 to $91.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Crown Castle has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $100.13.

Insider Activity at Crown Castle

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

Crown Castle Stock Up 0.1%

CCI stock traded up $0.11 during trading on Friday, reaching $86.22. The company's stock had a trading volume of 263,823 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,454,501. The company's fifty day moving average is $87.26 and its 200-day moving average is $91.05. The company has a market capitalization of $37.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 85.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.96. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1 year low of $77.01 and a 1 year high of $115.76.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

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

About Crown Castle

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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