Rhumbline Advisers Grows Position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 3.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 934,887 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 34,394 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned 0.21% of Crown Castle worth $97,443,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Twin Tree Management LP bought a new stake in Crown Castle during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the 4th quarter worth $50,000. Institutional investors own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crown Castle

In other news, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.72, for a total transaction of $384,192.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 6,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $689,944.80. This represents a 35.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 110,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,762,542.98. This trade represents a 15.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 31,600 shares of company stock worth $3,362,752 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CCI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wolfe Research upgraded Crown Castle from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Crown Castle from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Bank of America initiated coverage on Crown Castle in a research note on Monday, May 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. Barclays raised their target price on Crown Castle from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Crown Castle from $121.00 to $115.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Crown Castle has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $112.71.

Crown Castle Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE:CCI traded down $0.10 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $100.14. 2,989,762 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,895,520. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. The business has a 50-day moving average of $101.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $97.18. Crown Castle Inc. has a twelve month low of $84.20 and a twelve month high of $120.92. The company has a market capitalization of $43.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.51 and a beta of 0.93.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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). The business 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%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.72 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid 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 presently -39.50%.

About Crown Castle

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.