National Bank of Canada FI Buys 493,946 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 17.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,379,104 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 493,946 shares during the quarter. Crown Castle accounts for approximately 0.6% of National Bank of Canada FI's investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. National Bank of Canada FI owned about 0.78% of Crown Castle worth $394,023,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. United Services Automobile Association increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 23.1% during the third quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 13,411 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,234,000 after purchasing an additional 2,516 shares during the period. Court Place Advisors LLC bought a new position in Crown Castle during the 4th quarter worth $201,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Crown Castle by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 117,914 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $10,852,000 after acquiring an additional 542 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 8,611.0% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 703,236 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $81,006,000 after acquiring an additional 695,163 shares during the period. Finally, Manning & Napier Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the 4th quarter worth $5,005,000. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on CCI shares. Bank of America dropped their price target on Crown Castle from $120.00 to $105.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $111.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $115.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Argus cut Crown Castle from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Crown Castle from $110.00 to $109.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Crown Castle has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $113.29.

Crown Castle Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:CCI traded up $0.95 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $97.39. 4,119,456 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,351,464. The business's 50-day moving average price is $102.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $105.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.76. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12 month low of $84.72 and a 12 month high of $119.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.73, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.42.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.92). The business had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.63 billion. Crown Castle had a return on equity of 21.30% and a net margin of 20.32%. The company's revenue was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.91 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $1.565 per share. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.43%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Crown Castle's payout ratio is presently 195.63%.

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.