Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) Shares Purchased by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Crown Castle Inc. by 107.3% in Q1, acquiring over 1.4 million shares, now owning approximately 2.73 million shares valued at $284.58 million.
• Crown Castle reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, exceeding expectations, but revenue was down 4.2% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.0625 per share, yielding 4.2%, with the ex-dividend date set for September 15th.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 107.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,730,309 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 1,412,992 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 0.63% of Crown Castle worth $284,580,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Crown Castle by 10.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,840,605 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $7,175,256,000 after acquiring an additional 6,341,150 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,144,359 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $557,662,000 after buying an additional 58,903 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 60.9% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,472,921 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $570,443,000 after buying an additional 2,072,198 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 1.8% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,212,165 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $543,264,000 after buying an additional 90,371 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,729,215 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $429,224,000 after buying an additional 920,428 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on CCI shares. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $124.00 price target (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Monday, May 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $115.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, New Street Research raised shares of Crown Castle from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $116.24.

Crown Castle Price Performance

CCI stock traded up $0.56 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $101.61. 2,849,875 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,616,050. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $103.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $100.27. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1-year low of $84.20 and a 1-year high of $120.92. The firm has a market cap of $44.25 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.52, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.89.

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

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $1.0625 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -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.