NS Partners Ltd Acquires 2,680 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

NS Partners Ltd raised its position in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 156,519 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,680 shares during the quarter. NS Partners Ltd’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $18,568,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Commerce Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 9.3% during the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 60,372 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,162,000 after purchasing an additional 5,162 shares during the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new stake in Crown Castle during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,922,000. West Family Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in Crown Castle during the 3rd quarter valued at $259,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in Crown Castle during the 3rd quarter valued at $8,125,000. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise raised its stake in Crown Castle by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 40,096 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,757,000 after buying an additional 916 shares during the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Crown Castle Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE CCI opened at $104.45 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $111.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $106.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.04 and a beta of 0.86. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12-month low of $92.48 and a 12-month high of $120.92.

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). The business had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. Crown Castle had a net margin of 18.59% and a return on equity of 20.98%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.77 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $1.565 per share. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is 221.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CCI. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $103.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $116.87.

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.