Abundance Wealth Counselors Increases Stock Holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Abundance Wealth Counselors grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 41.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,636 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 3,408 shares during the period. Abundance Wealth Counselors' holdings in Crown Castle were worth $1,213,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. American National Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 62.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 347 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. 90.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America assumed coverage on Crown Castle in a research report on Monday, May 19th. They set a "buy" rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Crown Castle from $99.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut Crown Castle from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Crown Castle from $120.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Crown Castle in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Crown Castle has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $112.71.

Crown Castle Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of CCI opened at $99.28 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average is $101.31 and its 200 day moving average is $96.74. Crown Castle Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $84.20 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.23 billion, a PE ratio of -9.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.72 by ($0.62). Crown Castle had a negative return on equity of 164.40% and a negative net margin of 78.12%. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.72 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $1.0625 dividend. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.28%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio is presently -39.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.38, for a total transaction of $2,127,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 110,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,762,542.98. The trade was a 15.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total value of $850,960.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,183,563.36. This represents a 28.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 31,600 shares of company stock worth $3,362,752. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

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.

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