Chicago Capital LLC Purchases New Stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Chicago Capital LLC acquired a new position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 7,742 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $807,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Versor Investments LP grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 120.0% during the 4th quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 8,447 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $767,000 after purchasing an additional 4,608 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Crown Castle by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 144,766 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $13,139,000 after buying an additional 4,772 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its position in Crown Castle by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 204,237 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $18,537,000 after buying an additional 8,800 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC increased its holdings in Crown Castle by 98.3% in the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 26,428 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,399,000 after buying an additional 13,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP increased its holdings in Crown Castle by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 2,839,036 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $257,671,000 after buying an additional 242,565 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. JMP Securities boosted their price target on Crown Castle from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wolfe Research upgraded Crown Castle from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Crown Castle in a report on Monday, May 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised Crown Castle from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Crown Castle in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.71.

Crown Castle Price Performance

Crown Castle stock opened at $98.74 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.00 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.88. 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 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $101.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $96.76.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.72 by ($0.62). The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. Crown Castle had a negative net margin of 78.12% and a negative return on equity of 164.40%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.72 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 4.30%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -39.50%.

Insider Transactions at Crown Castle

In other news, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.38, for a total transaction of $2,127,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 110,571 shares in the company, valued at $11,762,542.98. This represents a 15.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of the business’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 transaction of $850,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 20,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Insiders have sold 31,600 shares of company stock worth $3,362,752 over the last quarter. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by 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.