Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) Shares Purchased by Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC

Key Points

• Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC increased its stake in Crown Castle Inc. by 84.8% during the first quarter, bringing its total holdings to 18,318 shares valued at approximately $1.9 million.
• Analysts have raised target prices for Crown Castle, with expectations ranging from $120.00 to $127.00, reflecting a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".
• Crown Castle announced a quarterly dividend of $1.0625 per share, offering an annualized yield of 4.0%, with the payout scheduled for September 30th.

Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 84.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,318 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 8,407 shares during the quarter. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC's holdings in Crown Castle were worth $1,909,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA increased its holdings in Crown Castle by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 3,532 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $368,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 18.9% during the 1st quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 672 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the period. Abel Hall LLC raised its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 6,393 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $666,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. Beacon Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Crown Castle by 36.6% during the 1st quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 448 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in Crown Castle by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 37,357 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,894,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CCI. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of Crown Castle in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Crown Castle from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $117.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Crown Castle presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $116.18.

Crown Castle Price Performance

Shares of CCI opened at $105.36 on Thursday. Crown Castle Inc. has a one year low of $84.20 and a one year high of $120.92. The company has a market cap of $45.88 billion, a PE ratio of -9.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $103.13 and a 200-day moving average of $99.55.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. Crown Castle had a negative net margin of 85.54% and a negative return on equity of 619.62%. The firm's revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. Analysts expect that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $1.0625 dividend. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Crown Castle's payout ratio is presently -39.83%.

Crown Castle Company Profile

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.

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