Inspire Trust Co. N.A. Buys 3,900 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Inspire Trust Co. N.A. raised its stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 32.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,000 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 3,900 shares during the quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A.'s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $1,452,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CCI. Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new stake in Crown Castle in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Finally, South Plains Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. 90.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on CCI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Crown Castle from $121.00 to $115.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $120.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Crown Castle in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Crown Castle from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $118.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $116.00 to $96.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Crown Castle presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $112.71.

Crown Castle Stock Down 1.4%

Crown Castle stock opened at $101.44 on Thursday. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12 month low of $84.20 and a 12 month high of $120.92. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $102.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. The firm has a market cap of $44.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.97 and a beta of 0.93.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). Crown Castle had a net margin of 18.59% and a return on equity of 20.98%. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.72 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $1.0625 per share. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.19%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -58.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of Crown Castle stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.38, for a total value of $2,127,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 110,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,762,542.98. The trade was a 15.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.72, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 31,600 shares of company stock worth $3,362,752. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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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