Focus Financial Network Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Focus Financial Network Inc. lowered its position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 7.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,131 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 350 shares during the period. Focus Financial Network Inc.’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $436,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Rational Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Crown Castle in the first quarter worth about $27,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Gables Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Crown Castle Price Performance

Crown Castle stock traded down $0.73 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $109.25. The company had a trading volume of 311,007 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,695,621. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.48 billion, a PE ratio of 34.38 and a beta of 0.83. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $103.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $102.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.04, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.43. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1-year low of $84.72 and a 1-year high of $119.50.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last released its 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. Crown Castle had a net margin of 17.98% and a return on equity of 19.20%. The business had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.05 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $1.565 per share. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is 195.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 price target for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Crown Castle from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Crown Castle from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Crown Castle from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Crown Castle has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.53.

Insider Activity at Crown Castle

In other news, COO Michael Joseph Kavanagh sold 10,883 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.72, for a total transaction of $1,128,784.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 75,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,792,172.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.39% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.