Sonora Investment Management Group LLC Has $513,000 Stock Position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Sonora Investment Management Group LLC lowered its stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 7.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,924 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 418 shares during the quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $513,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Crown Castle in the 4th quarter valued at $561,714,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Crown Castle by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,499,455 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,672,451,000 after buying an additional 5,934,615 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Crown Castle by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 20,849,846 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,892,332,000 after buying an additional 3,321,249 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in Crown Castle by 37.3% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 5,793,842 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $525,849,000 after buying an additional 1,573,043 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the 4th quarter valued at about $95,167,000. Institutional investors own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Crown Castle

In related news, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.72, for a total value of $384,192.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,465 shares in the company, valued at $689,944.80. This represents a 35.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 20,528 shares in the company, valued at $2,183,563.36. The trade was a 28.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 31,600 shares of company stock worth $3,362,752. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Crown Castle Stock Up 0.8%

CCI opened at $99.81 on Wednesday. Crown Castle Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $84.20 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.54. The company has a market capitalization of $43.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.39 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $100.93 and a 200-day moving average of $97.02.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by ($0.62). The company had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. Crown Castle had a net margin of 18.59% and a return on equity of 20.98%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.72 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.0625 per share. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -39.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Crown Castle in a research note on Monday, May 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $108.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. New Street Research raised shares of Crown Castle from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Crown Castle from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Crown Castle in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Crown Castle has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $112.71.

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.