RFG Advisory LLC Buys 16,525 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

RFG Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 143.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,049 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 16,525 shares during the quarter. RFG Advisory LLC's holdings in Crown Castle were worth $2,924,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Twin Tree Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. American National Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Crown Castle in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Crown Castle in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 95.2% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crown Castle

In other news, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total transaction of $850,960.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 20,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,183,563.36. This trade represents a 28.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of Crown Castle stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 31,600 shares of company stock valued at $3,362,752 in the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

NYSE:CCI traded down $0.10 on Thursday, hitting $100.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,989,762 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,891,794. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. Crown Castle Inc. has a one year low of $84.20 and a one year high of $120.92. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $101.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $97.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.51 and a beta of 0.93.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last posted 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 net margin of 18.59% and a return on equity of 20.98%. The business 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 company posted $1.72 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $1.0625 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.24%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio is currently -39.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on CCI. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Crown Castle in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Citigroup raised their price target on Crown Castle from $108.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen cut Crown Castle from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Crown Castle from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Raymond James raised Crown Castle from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $128.00 to $122.00 in a research note on Friday, March 14th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $112.71.

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.