Cetera Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 161.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 49,930 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,800 shares during the quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $5,284,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of CCI. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the 4th quarter worth about $254,000. Trust Point Inc. bought a new stake in Crown Castle in the 4th quarter worth about $264,000. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its holdings in Crown Castle by 258.3% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 8,886 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,024,000 after buying an additional 6,406 shares in the last quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Crown Castle by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 2,779 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $320,000 after buying an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 8,611.0% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 703,236 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $81,006,000 after buying an additional 695,163 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Crown Castle Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE CCI traded up $2.92 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $115.21. 2,633,025 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,235,651. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $101.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $102.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.00 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.04. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12 month low of $84.72 and a 12 month high of $119.50.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.04. Crown Castle had a return on equity of 19.20% and a net margin of 17.98%. The business had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.05 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $1.565 per share. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is 195.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CCI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $126.00 price objective (up from $124.00) on shares of Crown Castle in a research report on Friday, June 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Crown Castle in a report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 price target on the stock. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Crown Castle from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Crown Castle from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Argus cut Crown Castle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.20.

Insider Transactions at Crown Castle

In related news, COO Michael Joseph Kavanagh sold 10,883 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.72, for a total transaction of $1,128,784.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 75,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,792,172.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.39% 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.