Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Buys New Stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 289,267 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $30,150,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Crown Castle at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Twin Tree Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. American National Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Crown Castle in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CCI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wolfe Research raised shares of Crown Castle from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Crown Castle from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Argus raised Crown Castle to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. New Street Research upgraded Crown Castle from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, JMP Securities lifted their price target on Crown Castle from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $112.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crown Castle

In other news, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.72, for a total transaction of $384,192.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 6,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $689,944.80. This trade represents a 35.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.38, for a total transaction of $2,127,600.00. Following the completion of 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,600 shares of company stock valued at $3,362,752 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Crown Castle Trading Down 1.3%

NYSE CCI opened at $98.97 on Friday. The firm's 50-day moving average is $101.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $97.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.09 and a beta of 0.88. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12 month low of $84.20 and a 12 month high of $120.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.72 by ($0.62). The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.04 billion. Crown Castle had a net margin of 18.59% and a return on equity of 20.98%. Crown Castle's quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.72 EPS. On average, sell-side 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $1.0625 dividend. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.29%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Crown Castle's payout ratio is currently -39.50%.

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.

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