Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Lowers Holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. reduced its stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 4.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 894,838 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 44,989 shares during the period. Crown Castle makes up 1.2% of Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. owned approximately 0.21% of Crown Castle worth $106,155,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Crown Castle by 23.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 17,528,597 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,079,417,000 after purchasing an additional 3,371,186 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 433.8% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,968,959 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $470,838,000 after buying an additional 3,225,460 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 4,097.8% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 2,524,226 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $246,617,000 after buying an additional 2,464,094 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in shares of Crown Castle by 191.7% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,032,521 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $195,183,000 after acquiring an additional 1,335,644 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP raised its holdings in Crown Castle by 95.8% in the 2nd quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 2,578,932 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $251,962,000 after acquiring an additional 1,261,536 shares during the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on CCI shares. Barclays increased their target price on Crown Castle from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Crown Castle from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Citigroup set a $128.00 price objective on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $116.87.

Crown Castle Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of CCI stock opened at $101.85 on Monday. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1 year low of $92.48 and a 1 year high of $120.92. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $108.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $107.16. The company has a market cap of $44.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.12 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($1.03). Crown Castle had a net margin of 18.59% and a return on equity of 20.98%. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.77 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.565 per share. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is 221.99%.

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.