TCW Group Inc. Acquires 6,843 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

TCW Group Inc. lifted its stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 21.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,863 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,843 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc.’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $4,483,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CCI. Operose Advisors LLC bought a new position in Crown Castle in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Gables Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Crown Castle by 164.0% during the 4th quarter. Gables Capital Management Inc. now owns 264 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its position in Crown Castle by 51.1% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 287 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in Crown Castle by 126.1% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 312 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 43.6% in the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 372 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Crown Castle Price Performance

CCI stock traded down $0.89 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $98.12. The stock had a trading volume of 2,094,891 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,960,441. Crown Castle Inc. has a 52-week low of $84.72 and a 52-week high of $119.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.73. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $99.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $106.21. The company has a market cap of $42.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.76.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.92). Crown Castle had a return on equity of 21.30% and a net margin of 20.32%. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.63 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.91 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $1.565 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.38%. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is 195.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CCI has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays raised their price target on Crown Castle from $111.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Argus lowered Crown Castle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $126.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $120.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Crown Castle from $133.00 to $118.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Crown Castle presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.64.

Crown Castle Company 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.