New Century Financial Group LLC Makes New Investment in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

New Century Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 2,523 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $247,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in Crown Castle during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its holdings in Crown Castle by 159.0% during the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 272 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Crown Castle in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Beacon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Crown Castle by 163.9% during the first quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 285 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Crown Castle

In other Crown Castle news, COO Michael Joseph Kavanagh sold 10,883 shares of Crown Castle stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.72, for a total value of $1,128,784.76. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 75,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,792,172.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Crown Castle Stock Down 2.8 %

CCI stock opened at $115.78 on Thursday. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12 month low of $84.72 and a 12 month high of $120.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.04, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company has a market cap of $50.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.18 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $113.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $104.43.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $1.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.05 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $1.565 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.41%. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is currently 195.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CCI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Crown Castle from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Crown Castle from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Crown Castle from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $126.00 price objective (up previously from $124.00) on shares of Crown Castle in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $115.40.

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.