Quantbot Technologies LP Increases Position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Quantbot Technologies LP increased its position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 22.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 27,863 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,135 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $2,722,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CCI. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,547,032 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $523,773,000 after purchasing an additional 632,398 shares during the period. BOKF NA boosted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 25.6% in the 1st quarter. BOKF NA now owns 4,004 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $417,000 after acquiring an additional 815 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 0.9% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 931,397 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $98,570,000 after acquiring an additional 8,136 shares during the period. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the first quarter worth $4,425,000. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Crown Castle by 30.4% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 35,805 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,789,000 after purchasing an additional 8,346 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CCI opened at $119.62 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.04, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $110.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $103.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.98 billion, a PE ratio of 37.38 and a beta of 0.85. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1 year low of $84.72 and a 1 year high of $120.92.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.62 billion. Crown Castle had a return on equity of 19.20% and a net margin of 17.98%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.05 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $1.565 dividend. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.23%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 195.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on CCI shares. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $126.00 price objective (up previously from $124.00) on shares of Crown Castle in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Crown Castle from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 price target on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.53.

Insider Transactions at Crown Castle

In related news, COO Michael Joseph Kavanagh sold 10,883 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.72, for a total value of $1,128,784.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 75,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,792,172.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.39% 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.