Ascent Group LLC Purchases New Holdings in Crown Castle Inc. $CCI

Key Points

• Ascent Group LLC has acquired a new stake of 4,420 shares in Crown Castle Inc. valued at approximately $461,000 during the first quarter.
• Several major hedge funds have increased their holdings in Crown Castle, including Vanguard Group and Deutsche Bank AG, contributing to a total of 90.77% institutional ownership of the stock.
• Crown Castle recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.0625 per share, equating to an annual yield of 4.5%, despite reporting a significant net margin loss and decrease in EPS compared to the previous year.

Ascent Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 4,420 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $461,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Crown Castle by 10.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,840,605 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $7,175,256,000 after purchasing an additional 6,341,150 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 2.6% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 21,387,895 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,229,260,000 after acquiring an additional 538,049 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 1.2% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,992,402 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $624,584,000 after acquiring an additional 72,511 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 60.9% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,472,921 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $570,443,000 after acquiring an additional 2,072,198 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 1.8% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,212,165 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $543,264,000 after acquiring an additional 90,371 shares in the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

Shares of CCI opened at $93.97 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $102.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $101.35. Crown Castle Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $84.20 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.92 billion, a PE ratio of -8.81, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.92.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.02. Crown Castle had a negative net margin of 85.54% and a negative return on equity of 619.62%. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.62 EPS. The company's revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Crown Castle has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.140-4.250 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $1.0625 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.5%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio is presently -39.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CCI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Crown Castle from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $105.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Crown Castle from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $121.00 to $119.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Crown Castle has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $116.41.

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.

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