Slagle Financial LLC Acquires 1,891 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Slagle Financial LLC raised its holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 9.0% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 22,936 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,891 shares during the quarter. Slagle Financial LLC’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $2,241,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Crown Castle in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Rational Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Gables Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 164.0% in the fourth quarter. Gables Capital Management Inc. now owns 264 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the period. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Crown Castle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Crown Castle news, COO Michael Joseph Kavanagh sold 10,883 shares of the 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 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 SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CCI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Crown Castle from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $126.00 price objective (up previously from $124.00) on shares of Crown Castle in a research report on Friday, June 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Crown Castle in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.53.

Crown Castle Stock Up 2.7 %

Shares of CCI traded up $2.91 on Friday, reaching $112.40. The stock had a trading volume of 1,166,164 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,685,849. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.04, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.22 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $103.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $102.98. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12-month low of $84.72 and a 12-month high of $119.50.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.04. Crown Castle had a net margin of 17.98% and a return on equity of 19.20%. The company had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.62 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.05 EPS. Crown Castle’s revenue was down 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.64 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.565 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.57%. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is presently 195.63%.

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.