Crown Castle Inc. $CCI Stock: Bell Bank Boosts Position

Key Points

• Bell Bank increased its Crown Castle position by 28.4% in the third quarter, bringing its holdings to 107,989 shares valued at approximately $7.2 million. Institutional investors collectively own 90.77% of the stock.
• Analysts remain cautious, with Crown Castle receiving a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $93.97. Recent firms lowered their price targets, including JPMorgan to $80 and Jefferies to $82.
• Crown Castle reported quarterly earnings of $0.69 per share, beating estimates of $0.51, while revenue reached $1.01 billion but declined 4.9% year over year. The company paid a quarterly dividend of $1.0625, equivalent to a 5.2% annualized yield.

Bell Bank increased its position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 28.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 107,989 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 23,866 shares during the quarter. Bell Bank's holdings in Crown Castle were worth $7,197,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Front Row Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 1.4% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC grew its position 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. CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 10.2% in 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 in the last quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 0.3% during the second quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. now owns 53,512 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $4,052,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors lifted its position in Crown Castle by 2.0% during the first quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 7,882 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $641,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on CCI shares. Weiss Ratings cut Crown Castle from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an "underweight" rating and issued a $80.00 price objective (down from $85.00) on shares of Crown Castle in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Morgan Stanley set a $85.00 price target on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Monday, September 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Crown Castle from $88.00 to $82.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $93.97.

Crown Castle Trading Down 0.1%

Crown Castle stock opened at $80.97 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $74.07 and a 200 day moving average of $80.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.94. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.32 and a 12-month high of $100.50.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.18. Crown Castle had a negative return on equity of 51.60% and a net margin of 20.71%. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $995.05 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.67 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 4.38 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were paid a $1.0625 dividend. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 215.74%.

Insider Activity at Crown Castle

In other Crown Castle news, VP Robert Collins sold 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.89, for a total transaction of $113,835.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 5,113 shares of the company's stock, valued at $388,025.57. The trade was a 22.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Crown Castle Company Profile

Crown Castle Inc NYSE: CCI is a real estate investment trust that owns, operates and leases communications infrastructure in the United States. Its assets support wireless carriers, broadcasters, government agencies and other communications providers by enabling the transmission of voice, data and video services.

The company's infrastructure has historically included approximately 40,000 cell towers, about 90,000 route miles of fiber and a large portfolio of small-cell installations.

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