Putnam Investments LLC Buys 17,197 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Putnam Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 64.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 43,738 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,197 shares during the quarter. Putnam Investments LLC’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $5,854,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in CCI. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,992,000. Advisory Services Network LLC lifted its position in Crown Castle by 34.6% in the first quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 13,992 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,873,000 after purchasing an additional 3,595 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in Crown Castle by 3.2% during the first quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 142,611 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $19,086,000 after buying an additional 4,461 shares in the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Crown Castle by 13,535.7% in the 1st quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,810,309 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $20,997,000 after buying an additional 2,789,699 shares during the period. Finally, Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 251,650 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $33,681,000 after buying an additional 2,563 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $144.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Crown Castle from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 18th. Bank of America downgraded Crown Castle from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, August 10th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Crown Castle from C$113.00 to C$106.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 20th. Finally, Raymond James cut their price objective on Crown Castle from $128.00 to $126.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $138.56.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

Shares of CCI stock opened at $98.41 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $42.68 billion, a PE ratio of 24.98 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $104.55 and a 200-day moving average of $115.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.50. Crown Castle Inc. has a one year low of $95.73 and a one year high of $164.23.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.74). The firm had revenue of $1.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.86 billion. Crown Castle had a net margin of 23.85% and a return on equity of 23.20%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.80 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Crown Castle Inc. will post 7.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.565 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 14th. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.36%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 158.88%.

Crown Castle Profile

Crown Castle owns, operates and leases more than 40,000 cell towers and approximately 85,000 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.