Investment Management Corp of Ontario Boosts Position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Investment Management Corp of Ontario grew its position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 17.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,870 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 2,474 shares during the quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario's holdings in Crown Castle were worth $1,531,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the 4th quarter worth $561,714,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,499,455 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $5,672,451,000 after buying an additional 5,934,615 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 18.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 20,849,846 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,892,332,000 after buying an additional 3,321,249 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 37.3% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 5,793,842 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $525,849,000 after buying an additional 1,573,043 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the 4th quarter worth about $95,167,000. Institutional investors own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Crown Castle Trading Up 2.5%

CCI traded up $2.48 during trading on Thursday, hitting $100.71. 2,455,225 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,880,808. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $101.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $97.71. The firm has a market cap of $43.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.71 and a beta of 0.93. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1 year low of $84.20 and a 1 year high of $120.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.54.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.72 by ($0.62). The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.04 billion. Crown Castle had a return on equity of 20.98% and a net margin of 18.59%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.72 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $1.565 per share. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.22%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Crown Castle's payout ratio is -58.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CCI. JMP Securities raised their price objective on Crown Castle from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Crown Castle from $99.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Crown Castle from $121.00 to $115.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. New Street Research upgraded Crown Castle from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on Crown Castle in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $110.00 price target for the company. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $112.41.

Insider Transactions at Crown Castle

In other news, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.38, for a total value of $2,127,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 110,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,762,542.98. This trade represents a 15.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.72, for a total value of $384,192.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at $689,944.80. The trade was a 35.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 31,600 shares of company stock valued at $3,362,752 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

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.