MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH Boosts Stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH boosted its stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 1.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 558,101 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 6,220 shares during the quarter. Crown Castle makes up approximately 1.7% of MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $58,171,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Twin Tree Management LP acquired a new stake in Crown Castle in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Crown Castle in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. American National Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Crown Castle in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its position in shares of Crown Castle by 62.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 347 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 90.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Crown Castle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CCI opened at $98.29 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $101.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $96.87. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12 month low of $84.20 and a 12 month high of $120.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.85 and a beta of 0.88.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last announced its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. Crown Castle had a return on equity of 20.98% and a net margin of 18.59%. Crown Castle’s revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.72 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.32%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is presently -39.50%.

Insider Transactions at Crown Castle

In other Crown Castle news, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total value of $850,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,183,563.36. This trade represents a 28.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $689,944.80. This trade represents a 35.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 31,600 shares of company stock worth $3,362,752 over the last ninety days. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CCI has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $108.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $121.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Monday, May 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Crown Castle in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $99.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $112.71.

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.