Merit Financial Group LLC Boosts Holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Merit Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 7.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,251 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 228 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $375,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Crown Castle by 8.9% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 13,078,861 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,203,648,000 after acquiring an additional 1,064,382 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 14.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,936,611 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,098,526,000 after acquiring an additional 1,496,330 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 21.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,134,538 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $932,682,000 after acquiring an additional 1,818,910 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 42.8% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 7,083,665 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $651,910,000 after acquiring an additional 2,121,603 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 2.9% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,568,481 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $512,467,000 after acquiring an additional 155,543 shares in the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

Shares of CCI stock opened at $97.31 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $101.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $105.63. The firm has a market cap of $42.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.41, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.76. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1 year low of $84.72 and a 1 year high of $119.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.73, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.42.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.63 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.91 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $1.565 per share. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 195.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on CCI shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Crown Castle from $115.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Barclays increased their price objective 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Crown Castle from $110.00 to $109.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Crown Castle from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Crown Castle from $109.00 to $100.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $112.64.

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.