Albion Financial Group UT Increases Position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Albion Financial Group UT increased its stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 2.4% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 44,420 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 1,034 shares during the quarter. Albion Financial Group UT’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $4,701,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Gables Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Crown Castle by 164.0% during the fourth quarter. Gables Capital Management Inc. now owns 264 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its position in Crown Castle by 51.1% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 287 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Crown Castle by 126.1% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 312 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Crown Castle Stock Up 1.4 %

CCI traded up $1.37 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $96.66. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,085,391 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,840,764. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.26, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.73. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1 year low of $84.72 and a 1 year high of $119.50. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $98.43 and its 200-day moving average is $104.33.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.92). The business had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.63 billion. Crown Castle had a return on equity of 21.30% and a net margin of 20.32%. Crown Castle’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.91 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a $1.565 dividend. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 195.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on CCI shares. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $111.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Scotiabank lowered 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. Argus downgraded shares of Crown Castle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $120.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $110.00 to $109.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Crown Castle currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.53.

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.