Clarius Group LLC Acquires New Holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Clarius Group LLC bought a new position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 2,821 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $294,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of CCI. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Crown Castle in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new position in Crown Castle in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. American National Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Crown Castle in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Crown Castle by 95.2% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 408 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Crown Castle Trading Up 0.7%

Crown Castle stock traded up $0.71 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $100.09. The stock had a trading volume of 5,035,018 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,925,334. Crown Castle Inc. has a twelve month low of $84.20 and a twelve month high of $120.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market cap of $43.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.30, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.88. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $101.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $96.74.

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

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CCI. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $108.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. UBS Group raised shares of Crown Castle from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $118.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. New Street Research raised shares of Crown Castle from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $99.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $112.71.

Insider Transactions at Crown Castle

In other news, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total transaction of $850,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,528 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,183,563.36. This trade represents a 28.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.72, for a total transaction of $384,192.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at $689,944.80. This represents a 35.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Crown Castle Company 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.