EFG Asset Management Americas Corp. Purchases 17,240 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

EFG Asset Management Americas Corp. increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 38.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 61,987 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,240 shares during the period. Crown Castle accounts for approximately 1.2% of EFG Asset Management Americas Corp.’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest position. EFG Asset Management Americas Corp.’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $6,056,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CCI. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $581,503,000. M&G Plc bought a new position in Crown Castle during the first quarter worth $221,573,000. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC bought a new position in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter worth $201,582,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 18,200.7% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,651,456 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $190,231,000 after purchasing an additional 1,642,432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP raised its position in shares of Crown Castle by 95.8% in the second quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 2,578,932 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $251,962,000 after purchasing an additional 1,261,536 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CCI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped 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 reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $126.00 price objective (up from $124.00) on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Friday, June 14th. Bank of America upped their price target 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. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Crown Castle has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.53.

Crown Castle Price Performance

NYSE CCI traded up $2.25 during trading on Friday, hitting $116.12. 3,016,398 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,659,891. The company has a market cap of $50.46 billion, a PE ratio of 36.28 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.04. Crown Castle Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $84.72 and a fifty-two week high of $119.50. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $107.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $103.44.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.58 earnings per share (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 period in the prior year, the company earned $2.05 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.64 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued 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 5.39%. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is presently 195.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crown Castle

In other news, COO Michael Joseph Kavanagh sold 10,883 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.72, for a total transaction of $1,128,784.76. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 75,127 shares in the company, valued at $7,792,172.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

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.