Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. Invests $1.95 Million in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 21,452 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $1,947,000. Crown Castle makes up 2.0% of Measured Risk Portfolios Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CCI. Meketa Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $813,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in Crown Castle by 31.7% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 206,187 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $18,702,000 after buying an additional 49,687 shares in the last quarter. LRT Capital Management LLC grew its position in Crown Castle by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. LRT Capital Management LLC now owns 15,725 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,427,000 after acquiring an additional 2,392 shares during the period. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Crown Castle by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,345 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $485,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Investment Management Corp of Ontario lifted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 16,870 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,531,000 after acquiring an additional 2,474 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CCI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wolfe Research raised shares of Crown Castle from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Argus raised Crown Castle to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Crown Castle from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $105.00 in a report on Monday, March 17th. New Street Research raised Crown Castle from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Citizens Jmp raised shares of Crown Castle to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $112.41.

Crown Castle Trading Down 4.4%

NYSE:CCI opened at $100.42 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.61 and a beta of 0.93. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1-year low of $84.20 and a 1-year high of $120.92. The business's 50-day moving average price is $101.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $97.71. 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 (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.72 by ($0.62). Crown Castle had a return on equity of 20.98% and a net margin of 18.59%. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.72 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $1.565 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.23%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio is presently -58.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.72, for a total transaction of $384,192.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,465 shares in the company, valued at $689,944.80. This trade represents a 35.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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. The trade was a 15.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 31,600 shares of company stock worth $3,362,752. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

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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