Invst LLC Increases Position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Invst LLC lifted its position in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,517 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 644 shares during the period. Invst LLC’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $722,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Crown Castle during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in Crown Castle in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Asset Dedication LLC increased its stake in 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 last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Beacon Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 163.9% during the 1st quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 285 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

NYSE CCI opened at $118.63 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.04. The business’s 50 day moving average is $113.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $104.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.07 and a beta of 0.85. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12-month low of $84.72 and a 12-month high of $120.92.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.04. Crown Castle had a net margin of 17.98% and a return on equity of 19.20%. The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.05 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.64 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were given a $1.565 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.28%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 195.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on CCI. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Crown Castle from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Crown Castle from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Crown Castle from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Crown Castle from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $115.40.

Insider Activity at Crown Castle

In other news, COO Michael Joseph Kavanagh sold 10,883 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.72, for a total value of $1,128,784.76. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 75,127 shares in the company, valued at $7,792,172.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Crown Castle

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.