Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Boosts Stock Position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 223,997 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 14,234 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $26,573,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 783 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $93,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 3,869 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $376,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC lifted its position in Crown Castle by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 2,262 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $221,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. True North Advisors LLC lifted its position in Crown Castle by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. True North Advisors LLC now owns 2,345 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $278,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Granite Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in Crown Castle by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 19,439 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,899,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Crown Castle Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of Crown Castle stock opened at $108.91 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $47.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.03 and a beta of 0.85. Crown Castle Inc. has a twelve month low of $87.38 and a twelve month high of $120.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $114.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $105.48.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last announced its 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 business had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.77 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a $1.565 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.75%. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is 195.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CCI has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Crown Castle from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays upped their price objective on Crown Castle from $112.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America increased their price target on Crown Castle from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Crown Castle from $127.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Crown Castle from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Crown Castle presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $116.47.

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.