MQS Management LLC Makes New $841,000 Investment in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 8,610 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $841,000. Crown Castle makes up 0.5% of MQS Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in Crown Castle in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 159.0% in the second quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 272 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Beacon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 163.9% in the 1st quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 285 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Crown Castle Trading Down 1.5 %

NYSE CCI opened at $117.78 on Thursday. Crown Castle Inc. has a one year low of $84.72 and a one year high of $120.92. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $111.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $104.01. The firm has a market cap of $51.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.81 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.04, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.43.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.04. Crown Castle had a return on equity of 19.20% and a net margin of 17.98%. The business had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.62 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.05 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $1.565 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.31%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 195.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on CCI shares. Bank of America upped their target price on Crown Castle from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Crown Castle in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Crown Castle from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $126.00 price target (up from $124.00) on shares of Crown Castle in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.53.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crown Castle

In other Crown Castle news, COO Michael Joseph Kavanagh sold 10,883 shares of Crown Castle stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.72, for a total transaction of $1,128,784.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 75,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,792,172.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

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.