Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Invests $1.80 Million in Crown Castle Inc. $CCI

Key Points

• Louisiana State Employees Retirement System opened a new position in Crown Castle, buying 22,200 shares worth about $1.8 million in the first quarter.
• Crown Castle shares were down 3.8% to $75.64, near their 12-month low, after trading well below recent moving averages.
• The company beat quarterly EPS and revenue estimates, but its dividend payout ratio is high at 175.62%; analysts currently have a Moderate Buy consensus with a $98.52 price target.

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 22,200 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $1,805,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 16,444 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,714,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Crown Castle by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 87,611 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $9,000,000 after purchasing an additional 5,630 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Crown Castle by 3.7% in the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,655 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $786,000 after buying an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 49.3% during the second quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 10,913 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,121,000 after buying an additional 3,603 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 5.6% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 4,955 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $509,000 after buying an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Crown Castle Trading Down 3.8%

Shares of CCI opened at $75.64 on Wednesday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $88.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $87.12. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12 month low of $75.39 and a 12 month high of $115.76. The company has a market capitalization of $33.01 billion, a PE ratio of 31.25, a PEG ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.93.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.55. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $995.41 million. Crown Castle had a negative return on equity of 64.64% and a net margin of 25.13%.The firm's revenue was down 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share. Crown Castle has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.380-4.490 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a dividend of $1.0625 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.6%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 175.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CCI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Crown Castle from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on Crown Castle from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Crown Castle from $91.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Crown Castle in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. They issued a "hold" rating and a $90.00 target price for the company. Finally, Zacks Research raised Crown Castle from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Two investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $98.52.

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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