Inspire Trust Co. N.A. Has $2.09 Million Holdings in Crown Castle Inc. $CCI

Key Points

• Inspire Trust Co. N.A. increased its stake in Crown Castle Inc. by 25% during the first quarter, bringing its total holdings to 20,000 shares valued at approximately $2,085,000.
• Recent analyst reports have led to several target price increases for Crown Castle, with Barclays raising their target from $117 to $121 and Citigroup from $108 to $124, indicating a generally favorable outlook.
• Crown Castle reported $1.02 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding expectations, but reflected a 4.2% year-over-year revenue decline and maintained a negative net margin of 85.54%.

Inspire Trust Co. N.A. lifted its stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 25.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,000 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A.'s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $2,085,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Crown Castle by 10.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,840,605 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $7,175,256,000 after purchasing an additional 6,341,150 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,144,359 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $557,662,000 after purchasing an additional 58,903 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in Crown Castle by 60.9% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,472,921 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $570,443,000 after purchasing an additional 2,072,198 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,212,165 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $543,264,000 after buying an additional 90,371 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Crown Castle by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,729,215 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $429,224,000 after acquiring an additional 920,428 shares in the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Crown Castle Price Performance

CCI stock traded down $1.21 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $100.48. 2,678,394 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,241,228. The firm's 50-day moving average is $103.56 and its 200-day moving average is $100.35. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12 month low of $84.20 and a 12 month high of $120.92. The company has a market cap of $43.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.42, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.89.

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

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $1.0625 dividend. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Crown Castle's payout ratio is presently -39.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CCI. New Street Research raised Crown Castle from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $124.00 price objective (up from $122.00) on shares of Crown Castle in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Crown Castle from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $112.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $116.12.

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.