BlackRock Inc. Buys New Holdings in Crown Castle Inc. $CCI

Key Points

• BlackRock acquired 43.9 million Crown Castle shares worth approximately $3.33 billion, giving it a 10.06% stake. Overall, institutional investors own 90.77% of CCI.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive view, with Crown Castle rated “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.13, despite several recent target-price adjustments.
• Crown Castle reported quarterly EPS of $0.22, below the $0.39 consensus estimate, while revenue reached $1.01 billion and declined 4.9% year over year. The company declared a $1.0625 quarterly dividend, equivalent to a 5.7% annualized yield.

BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 43,921,220 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $3,326,154,000. BlackRock Inc. owned 10.06% of Crown Castle at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wiser Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in Crown Castle during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in Crown Castle during the third quarter worth $31,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Crown Castle by 55.6% during the first quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC now owns 375 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its position in Crown Castle by 128.7% during the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 382 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the period. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. 90.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Crown Castle from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 20th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Crown Castle from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Wolfe Research lowered Crown Castle from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Crown Castle from $94.00 to $92.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial increased their target price on Crown Castle from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Crown Castle presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $95.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.89, for a total transaction of $113,835.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 5,113 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $388,025.57. This represents a 22.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

Shares of CCI opened at $74.04 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $78.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.34. Crown Castle Inc. has a one year low of $69.72 and a one year high of $104.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.58, a PEG ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.95.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.39 by ($0.17). Crown Castle had a net margin of 20.71% and a negative return on equity of 51.60%. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $995.05 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.67 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Crown Castle has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.530-4.650 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 4.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $1.0625 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.7%. Crown Castle's payout ratio is presently 215.74%.

Crown Castle Profile

Crown Castle is a U.S.-focused communications infrastructure company organized as a real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns, operates and leases shared wireless infrastructure. Its primary business consists of providing tower-based site leases, small cell networks and fiber solutions that support mobile voice and data transmission for wireless carriers, cable companies and other enterprise customers. The company's assets are positioned to enable network coverage and capacity, including the densification projects associated with 4G LTE and 5G deployments.

Its product and service offerings include ground-based tower sites that host multiple wireless operators, distributed small cell nodes and associated fiber backhaul used to connect sites into carrier networks, and site development and maintenance services.

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