KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Increases Stock Holdings in Crown Castle Inc. $CCI

Key Points

• KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS has increased its stake in Crown Castle Inc. by 3.1%, bringing its holdings to 154,679 shares valued at approximately $15.89 million.
• Major hedge funds like Vanguard Group Inc. and Deutsche Bank AG have also significantly boosted their positions in Crown Castle during the first quarter, reflecting strong institutional interest in the stock.
• Analysts have recently upgraded Crown Castle's rating from "market perform" to "outperform," with price targets ranging from $112.00 to $125.00, indicating bullish sentiment in the market.

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS boosted its position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 154,679 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 4,700 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS's holdings in Crown Castle were worth $15,890,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Crown Castle by 10.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,840,605 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $7,175,256,000 after purchasing an additional 6,341,150 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Crown Castle by 2.6% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 21,387,895 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,229,260,000 after purchasing an additional 538,049 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 1.2% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,992,402 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $624,584,000 after buying an additional 72,511 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 60.9% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,472,921 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $570,443,000 after buying an additional 2,072,198 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,212,165 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $543,264,000 after buying an additional 90,371 shares in the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CCI. BMO Capital Markets raised Crown Castle from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $115.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $112.00 price objective on Crown Castle and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Wolfe Research raised Crown Castle from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $114.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised Crown Castle from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Crown Castle from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $115.76.

Crown Castle Trading Up 1.3%

NYSE CCI opened at $96.41 on Thursday. The stock's 50 day moving average is $98.57 and its 200 day moving average is $100.93. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12 month low of $84.20 and a 12 month high of $115.89. The stock has a market cap of $41.98 billion, a PE ratio of -9.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.95.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.02. Crown Castle had a negative return on equity of 619.62% and a negative net margin of 85.54%.The business had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.62 EPS. The company's revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Crown Castle has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.140-4.250 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a $1.0625 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.4%. Crown Castle's payout ratio is presently -39.83%.

About Crown Castle

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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