Royal Bank of Canada Raises Stock Holdings in Crown Castle Inc. $CCI

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in Crown Castle Inc. by 2.8%, owning approximately 4.2 million shares worth $442.6 million as of the latest quarter.
• The company reported $1.02 earnings per share, surpassing estimates, although revenue fell by 4.2% year-over-year.
• Crown Castle announced a $1.0625 quarterly dividend, providing a yield of 4.3%, with a significant portion of its stock (90.77%) being owned by institutional investors.

Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 2.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,246,302 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 116,262 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned 0.98% of Crown Castle worth $442,592,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CCI. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Centerpoint Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Crown Castle during the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Crown Castle during the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, American National Bank & Trust bought a new position in Crown Castle during the first quarter valued at about $29,000. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Crown Castle Trading Up 0.5%

Crown Castle stock traded up $0.46 on Friday, hitting $95.92. 5,038,065 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,255,978. The firm has a market cap of $41.77 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.92. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $103.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $101.24. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1 year low of $84.20 and a 1 year high of $120.92.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.02. Crown Castle had a negative return on equity of 619.62% and a negative net margin of 85.54%.The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.62 EPS. Crown Castle's quarterly 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. As a group, analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $1.0625 per share. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Crown Castle's payout ratio is presently -39.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Crown Castle from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $105.00 to $125.00 in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $121.00 to $119.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 18th. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $125.00 price objective on shares of Crown Castle in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Crown Castle from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price target for the company from $115.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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.