Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. Takes Position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 14,700 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $1,538,000. Crown Castle makes up 1.1% of Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CCI. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its position in Crown Castle by 575.0% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 1,285,972 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $134,037,000 after purchasing an additional 1,095,455 shares during the last quarter. ProVise Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the first quarter worth about $210,000. Alberta Investment Management Corp increased its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 7.1% in the first quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 48,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,003,000 after buying an additional 3,200 shares during the period. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Crown Castle in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $222,000. Finally, American Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Crown Castle during the 1st quarter worth approximately $10,395,000. Institutional investors own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Crown Castle Stock Up 1.7%

CCI opened at $106.89 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $102.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $99.21. Crown Castle Inc. has a twelve month low of $84.20 and a twelve month high of $120.92. The company has a market capitalization of $46.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.02, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.89.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.02. Crown Castle had a negative net margin of 85.54% and a negative return on equity of 619.62%. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.62 EPS. Crown Castle’s revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were given a $1.0625 dividend. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -39.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Crown Castle from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Crown Castle from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $124.00 price target (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Crown Castle in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $116.18.

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.