We agree with Elliott on these two

Article Excerpt

Activist investor Elliott Investment Management is now targeting two firms it feels could boost shareholder value with asset sales or spinoffs. We agree with its proposals, and see both stocks as attractive buys. CROWN CASTLE INTERNATIONAL CORP. $117 is a buy. The company (New York symbol CCI; Manufacturing sector; Shares outstanding: 433.7 million; Market cap: $50.7 billion; Dividend yield 5.4%; Takeover Target Rating: Medium; www.crowncastle.com) owns, leases and manages 40,000 cell towers in the U.S., including Puerto Rico. Approximately 75% of site rental revenues are derived from AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile. Crown Castle also owns and operates 85,000 route miles of fibre across the U.S. Activist investor Elliott Investment Management, which owns $2 billion of Crown Castle’s stock, wants Crown Castle to conduct a strategic review of its fibre-optic business. That could lead to a sale or spinoff. Elliott estimates that the company has invested $19.1 billion in its fibre operations since it entered the field in 2011. However, the return from these outlays is just slightly…