Handelsbanken Fonder AB Trims Holdings in Crown Castle Inc. $CCI

Key Points

• Handelsbanken Fonder AB reduced its Crown Castle stake by 8.3% in the fourth quarter, selling 19,897 shares and ending with 221,151 shares valued at about $19.65 million.
• Insider selling continued, with VP Robert Sean Collins and EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. both trimming their holdings in recent SEC-reported transactions.
• Crown Castle reported stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings, posting $1.02 EPS versus the $0.47 consensus estimate, while revenue came in slightly ahead of expectations at $1.01 billion; the company also maintains a quarterly dividend of $1.0625 per share.

Handelsbanken Fonder AB trimmed its position in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 8.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 221,151 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 19,897 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned about 0.05% of Crown Castle worth $19,654,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Wiser Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in Crown Castle during the third quarter valued at $29,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp purchased a new position in Crown Castle during the third quarter valued at $31,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in Crown Castle during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 128.7% in the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 382 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Crown Castle news, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.49, for a total value of $262,470.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 5,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at $507,442. This represents a 34.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 4,650 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.34, for a total value of $401,481.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 25,183 shares in the company, valued at $2,174,300.22. This represents a 15.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Crown Castle Price Performance

Shares of CCI stock opened at $92.64 on Thursday. The firm's 50-day moving average is $86.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.59. The company has a market capitalization of $40.43 billion, a PE ratio of 38.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 0.93. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12 month low of $75.96 and a 12 month high of $115.76.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.55. Crown Castle had a net margin of 25.13% and a negative return on equity of 64.64%. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $995.42 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Crown Castle has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.380-4.490 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Crown Castle Inc. will post 4.22 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a $1.0625 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. Crown Castle's payout ratio is presently 175.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on CCI shares. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $85.00 target price (down from $90.00) on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Barclays upped their price objective on Crown Castle from $91.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Crown Castle from $91.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Crown Castle from $105.00 to $95.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $84.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $98.52.

Crown Castle 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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