Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) Holdings Reduced by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama decreased its holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 0.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 654,683 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 5,473 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned approximately 0.15% of Crown Castle worth $68,238,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Crown Castle in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. American National Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Crown Castle in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its position in Crown Castle by 62.1% in the first 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 during the period. Finally, Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on CCI shares. Wolfe Research upgraded Crown Castle from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Crown Castle in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Crown Castle from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $121.00 to $115.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $112.71.

Crown Castle Stock Up 0.7%

Crown Castle stock traded up $0.71 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $100.09. The stock had a trading volume of 5,035,018 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,925,565. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. The stock has a market cap of $43.58 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $101.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $96.71.

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

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Crown Castle

In other news, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was 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 directly owns 110,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,762,542.98. This represents a 15.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total value of $850,960.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 31,600 shares of company stock worth $3,362,752 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

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.