SageView Advisory Group LLC Acquires 2,240 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

SageView Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 65.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,665 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 2,240 shares during the quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $612,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CCI. Operose Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Crown Castle during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Gables Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Crown Castle by 164.0% during the fourth quarter. Gables Capital Management Inc. now owns 264 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its position in Crown Castle by 51.1% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 287 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in Crown Castle by 126.1% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 312 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on CCI shares. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $126.00 target price (up from $124.00) on shares of Crown Castle in a research report on Friday, June 14th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective 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. Argus downgraded Crown Castle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Crown Castle from $120.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Crown Castle from $133.00 to $118.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Crown Castle has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $114.21.

Crown Castle Stock Down 1.0 %

NYSE CCI opened at $95.35 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $41.43 billion, a PE ratio of 29.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.82. Crown Castle Inc. has a one year low of $84.72 and a one year high of $119.50. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $98.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.73, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.42.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.92). The business had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.63 billion. Crown Castle had a return on equity of 21.30% and a net margin of 20.32%. The firm’s revenue was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.91 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $1.565 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.57%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 195.63%.

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.