California State Teachers Retirement System Trims Stock Position in Crown Castle Inc. $CCI

Key Points

• California State Teachers Retirement System reduced its Crown Castle stake by 2.6% in the first quarter, selling 18,952 shares and retaining 711,707 shares valued at approximately $57.9 million. Institutional investors collectively own 90.77% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with Crown Castle holding a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $95.13. Recent targets range from $82 to $92, while several firms adjusted ratings or price objectives.
• Crown Castle shares opened at $76.55, near their 52-week low, while the company’s quarterly dividend equates to an annualized $4.25 payout and a 5.6% yield. Its payout ratio remains high at 215.74%.

California State Teachers Retirement System cut its stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 2.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 711,707 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 18,952 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.16% of Crown Castle worth $57,869,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CCI. Wiser Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 55.6% in the first quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC now owns 375 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in Crown Castle during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the first quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 128.7% during the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 382 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wolfe Research lowered Crown Castle from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on Crown Castle from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $91.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $88.00 to $82.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $94.00 to $92.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Crown Castle presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $95.13.

Crown Castle Stock Down 3.2%

NYSE CCI opened at $76.55 on Friday. Crown Castle Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.52 and a fifty-two week high of $112.75. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $83.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $85.47. The stock has a market cap of $33.41 billion, a PE ratio of 38.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 0.95.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a $1.0625 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.6%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio is 215.74%.

About Crown Castle

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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