Sentry Investment Management LLC Lowers Stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Sentry Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 17.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,886 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 386 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $184,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in Crown Castle during the first quarter worth $27,000. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its holdings in Crown Castle by 159.0% during the second quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 272 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Beacon Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Crown Castle by 163.9% in the first quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 285 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on CCI shares. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Crown Castle in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 price target on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Crown Castle from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $126.00 price target (up from $124.00) on shares of Crown Castle in a research report on Friday, June 14th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Crown Castle from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Crown Castle has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.53.

Crown Castle Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE CCI opened at $120.14 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $52.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.54 and a beta of 0.85. 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 50 day simple moving average of $108.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $103.63. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1 year low of $84.72 and a 1 year high of $120.31.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.04. Crown Castle had a return on equity of 19.20% and a net margin of 17.98%. The company had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.05 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a $1.565 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.21%. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is currently 195.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Michael Joseph Kavanagh sold 10,883 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were 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 directly owns 75,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,792,172.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.