Homestead Advisers Corp Acquires 92,100 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Homestead Advisers Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 18.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 594,800 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 92,100 shares during the period. Homestead Advisers Corp owned about 0.14% of Crown Castle worth $53,984,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CCI. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Crown Castle in the third quarter worth $518,000. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the third quarter worth about $363,000. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Crown Castle by 31.2% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 76,343 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,057,000 after purchasing an additional 18,176 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co. lifted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 3,814 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $452,000 after buying an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in Crown Castle in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $167,000. 90.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on CCI. UBS Group upgraded Crown Castle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Citigroup upped their price target on Crown Castle from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $116.00 to $96.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Moffett Nathanson decreased their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $127.00 to $105.00 in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Crown Castle from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $85.00 to $105.00 in a report on Monday, March 17th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $110.00.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

Crown Castle stock opened at $101.04 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $93.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $100.86. Crown Castle Inc. has a twelve month low of $84.20 and a twelve month high of $120.92. The company has a market capitalization of $44.00 billion, a PE ratio of 35.83 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $1.565 dividend. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is -69.71%.

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.