Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Increases Stake in Crown Castle Inc. $CCI

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 3.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,185,915 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 177,896 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $596,876,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Winnow Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Crown Castle in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its holdings in Crown Castle by 74.5% during the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 281 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the third quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 47.8% in the second quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 303 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Crown Castle Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE CCI opened at $90.35 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $87.17 and its 200 day moving average is $91.54. The stock has a market cap of $39.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 89.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 0.96. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1-year low of $77.01 and a 1-year high of $115.76.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a $1.0625 dividend. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is presently 420.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crown Castle

In related news, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.49, for a total transaction of $262,470.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 5,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $507,442. This trade represents a 34.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 4,650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.34, for a total transaction of $401,481.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 25,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,174,300.22. This represents a 15.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CCI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Crown Castle from $96.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Crown Castle from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Crown Castle from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Crown Castle from a “sell (d)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, HSBC reduced their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $107.00 to $88.40 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Crown Castle currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.02.

Crown Castle Profile

Crown Castle is a U.S.-focused communications infrastructure company organized as a real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns, operates and leases shared wireless infrastructure. Its primary business consists of providing tower-based site leases, small cell networks and fiber solutions that support mobile voice and data transmission for wireless carriers, cable companies and other enterprise customers. The company’s assets are positioned to enable network coverage and capacity, including the densification projects associated with 4G LTE and 5G deployments.

Its product and service offerings include ground-based tower sites that host multiple wireless operators, distributed small cell nodes and associated fiber backhaul used to connect sites into carrier networks, and site development and maintenance services.