Entropy Technologies LP Trims Stake in Crown Castle Inc. $CCI

Key Points

• Entropy Technologies LP cut its Crown Castle stake by 86.5% in the first quarter, selling 53,842 shares and retaining 8,405 shares worth approximately $683,000.
• Despite the sale, institutional ownership remains high at 90.77%, with several major investors—including Lazard, Cohen & Steers, UBS Asset Management and Principal Financial—substantially increasing their positions.
• Crown Castle offers a quarterly dividend of $1.0625 per share, or $4.25 annualized, yielding about 5.4%. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $95.13, although several firms recently lowered their targets.

Entropy Technologies LP decreased its stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 86.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,405 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 53,842 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP's holdings in Crown Castle were worth $683,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CCI. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the fourth quarter valued at $594,670,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 124.2% during the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 11,635,117 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,034,013,000 after acquiring an additional 6,445,237 shares during the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its position in Crown Castle by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 39,790,292 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,536,214,000 after purchasing an additional 3,953,685 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in Crown Castle by 591.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 4,471,120 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $431,418,000 after purchasing an additional 3,824,778 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Crown Castle by 422.5% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,581,154 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $318,258,000 after purchasing an additional 2,895,756 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Crown Castle Trading Up 4.4%

NYSE CCI opened at $79.11 on Thursday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $83.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $85.53. Crown Castle Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.52 and a twelve month high of $112.75. The company has a market capitalization of $34.53 billion, a PE ratio of 40.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.95.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a dividend of $1.0625 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.4%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio is currently 215.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CCI has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $88.00 to $82.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Truist Financial cut their price objective 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. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Crown Castle from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $95.13.

Crown Castle Company Profile

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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