Shell Asset Management Co. Sells 2,851 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Shell Asset Management Co. decreased its position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 41.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,006 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,851 shares during the quarter. Shell Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $424,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. IFG Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Crown Castle in the fourth quarter worth about $259,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the 4th quarter worth approximately $221,000. Caprock Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 87.9% in the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 9,821 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,131,000 after buying an additional 4,593 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Group LLC bought a new position in Crown Castle during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,005,000. Finally, MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH raised its stake in Crown Castle by 27.0% during the fourth quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 415,754 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $47,891,000 after buying an additional 88,274 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Michael Joseph Kavanagh sold 10,883 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 75,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,792,172.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Crown Castle Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE:CCI opened at $107.52 on Friday. Crown Castle Inc. has a one year low of $84.72 and a one year high of $119.50. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $99.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $102.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.04, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.42.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.62 billion. Crown Castle had a return on equity of 19.20% and a net margin of 17.98%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.05 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $1.565 per share. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 195.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on CCI. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $126.00 target price (up from $124.00) on shares of Crown Castle in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $133.00 to $118.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Crown Castle in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Crown Castle from $111.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $114.88.

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.