Abundance Wealth Counselors Grows Stock Holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Abundance Wealth Counselors raised its holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 22.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,460 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 1,741 shares during the period. Abundance Wealth Counselors’ holdings in Crown Castle were worth $924,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Crown Castle in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Rational Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Gables Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 164.0% during the 4th quarter. Gables Capital Management Inc. now owns 264 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the period. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CCI shares. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Crown Castle in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 price target on the stock. Argus downgraded Crown Castle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Crown Castle from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $126.00 price target (up from $124.00) on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Crown Castle from $126.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.53.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CCI traded down $1.09 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $109.12. 2,018,609 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,733,394. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $102.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $102.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.10 and a beta of 0.83. Crown Castle Inc. has a twelve month low of $84.72 and a twelve month high of $119.50.

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

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $1.565 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.74%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 195.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Michael Joseph Kavanagh sold 10,883 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.39% of the stock is 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.