Crown Castle Inc. $CCI Shares Sold by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group reduced its Crown Castle stake by 3.1% in the second quarter, selling 25,505 shares and retaining 804,222 shares worth approximately $60.9 million. Institutional investors collectively own 90.77% of the company.
• Crown Castle shares opened at $75.75, near the lower end of their 52-week range, while analysts maintain a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with an average price target of $95.13.
• The REIT declared a quarterly dividend of $1.0625 per share, equal to $4.25 annually and a 5.6% yield. However, its payout ratio stands at a high 215.74%.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. trimmed its position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 804,222 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 25,505 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned about 0.18% of Crown Castle worth $60,904,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. United Asset Strategies Inc. boosted its position in Crown Castle by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 4,931 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $438,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc raised its position in Crown Castle by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc now owns 1,295 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $125,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC raised its position in Crown Castle by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 9,305 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $757,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Crown Castle by 55.6% during the 1st quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC now owns 375 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the period. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its stake in Crown Castle by 10.2% during the 1st quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,488 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $121,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 $388,025.57. This represents a 22.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on CCI. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 20th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Crown Castle in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Wolfe Research lowered Crown Castle from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Citizens Jmp reduced their price target on Crown Castle from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Crown Castle from $88.00 to $82.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Crown Castle presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $95.13.

Crown Castle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CCI opened at $75.75 on Friday. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1 year low of $69.72 and a 1 year high of $104.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.23 billion, a PE ratio of 38.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 0.95. The business's 50 day moving average price is $79.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $84.58.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.0625 per share. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. Crown Castle's 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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