Vestcor Inc Buys 12,886 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Key Points

• Vestcor Inc increased its holdings in Crown Castle Inc. by 39.5% in the first quarter, acquiring an additional 12,886 shares, bringing its total to 45,510 shares worth $4,744,000.
• Several institutional investors, including Geode Capital Management and Northern Trust Corp, also expanded their stakes in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter, indicating strong interest in the company.
• Crown Castle announced a quarterly dividend of $1.0625 per share, with a yield of 3.98%, although the firm reported a negative net margin of 85.54% for the recent quarter.

Vestcor Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 39.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 45,510 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 12,886 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc's holdings in Crown Castle were worth $4,744,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 144,766 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $13,139,000 after acquiring an additional 4,772 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 34.1% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 117,827 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $10,579,000 after acquiring an additional 29,973 shares in the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 5,889 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $534,000 after acquiring an additional 730 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,333,158 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,119,225,000 after acquiring an additional 228,007 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 7,726 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $701,000 after acquiring an additional 1,472 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Crown Castle Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of Crown Castle stock traded up $1.80 on Friday, reaching $106.89. The stock had a trading volume of 3,429,548 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,073,515. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1 year low of $84.20 and a 1 year high of $120.92. The company has a market cap of $46.55 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.89. The business's 50 day moving average is $102.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $99.29.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion for 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%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.62 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a $1.0625 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -39.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on CCI shares. New Street Research upgraded shares of Crown Castle from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $108.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Crown Castle from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Crown Castle in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $116.18.

About Crown Castle

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.