Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 93,557 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,128 shares during the quarter. Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $9,141,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CCI. Gilbert & Cook Inc. lifted its holdings in Crown Castle by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 3,083 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $355,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 21,268 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,450,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the fourth quarter valued at $644,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in Crown Castle by 20.7% in the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,859 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. lifted its position in Crown Castle by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 22,293 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,568,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on CCI. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $126.00 price objective (up previously from $124.00) on shares of Crown Castle in a research note on Friday, June 14th. 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 report on Thursday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Crown Castle in a report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 price objective for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Crown Castle from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Crown Castle from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Crown Castle currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.53.

Crown Castle Stock Down 0.1 %

CCI stock traded down $0.11 during trading on Monday, reaching $116.01. The stock had a trading volume of 198,217 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,645,662. The company has a current ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.04. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $107.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $103.37. The company has a market capitalization of $50.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.29 and a beta of 0.85. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1-year low of $84.72 and a 1-year 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 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.05 earnings per share. Crown Castle’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $1.565 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.40%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 195.63%.

Insider Activity at Crown Castle

In other news, COO Michael Joseph Kavanagh sold 10,883 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.72, for a total value of $1,128,784.76. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now 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 corporate insiders.

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.