Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Purchases 9,041 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Key Points

• Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in Crown Castle Inc. by 26.2% during the 1st quarter, owning 43,610 shares valued at approximately $4.55 million after purchasing an additional 9,041 shares.
• Several institutional investors, including Wellington Management Group and National Bank of Canada FI, significantly raised their positions in Crown Castle, with Wellington increasing its stake by 18.9% to nearly 20.85 million shares.
• Crown Castle's recent quarterly earnings showed a negative net margin of 85.54%, despite beating EPS estimates, while also announcing a dividend cut, with an annualized yield of 3.81%.

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 26.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 43,610 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 9,041 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $4,545,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Crown Castle in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. American National Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 62.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 347 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 95.2% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 408 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CCI has been the topic of several recent research reports. New Street Research raised Crown Castle from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Crown Castle from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup upped their price target on Crown Castle from $108.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Bank of America began coverage on Crown Castle in a research report on Monday, May 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on Crown Castle from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $116.18.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

Shares of Crown Castle stock traded down $0.95 on Thursday, hitting $106.03. The company had a trading volume of 751,601 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,235,599. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.94, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.88. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1 year low of $84.20 and a 1 year high of $120.92. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $102.54 and a 200-day moving average of $98.93.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.02. Crown Castle had a negative return on equity of 619.62% and a negative net margin of 85.54%. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.62 earnings per share. Crown Castle's revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a $1.0625 dividend. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. Crown Castle's payout ratio is currently -39.83%.

Insider Transactions at Crown Castle

In related news, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of Crown Castle stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.72, for a total transaction of $384,192.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 6,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $689,944.80. This trade represents a 35.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of Crown Castle stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.38, for a total value of $2,127,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,762,542.98. This represents a 15.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 31,600 shares of company stock valued at $3,362,752 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.10% 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.