Pacer Advisors Inc. Cuts Position in Crown Castle Inc. $CCI

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in Crown Castle by 12.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 31,644 shares and ending with 217,613 shares valued at about $19.3 million.
• Crown Castle reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $1.02 per share versus $0.47 expected, while revenue came in slightly ahead of estimates at $1.01 billion despite a 4.9% year-over-year decline.
• The company maintained a quarterly dividend of $1.0625 per share, which annualizes to $4.25 and yields about 4.7%, though its payout ratio is high at 175.62%.

Pacer Advisors Inc. cut its stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 12.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 217,613 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 31,644 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $19,339,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CCI. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in Crown Castle in the third quarter worth $29,000. Wiser Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in Crown Castle in the third quarter worth $29,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp purchased a new position in Crown Castle in the third quarter worth $31,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in Crown Castle in the third quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its position in Crown Castle by 128.7% in the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 382 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $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.

Crown Castle Stock Down 2.0%

NYSE CCI opened at $89.65 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $86.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $87.77. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12-month low of $75.96 and a 12-month high of $115.76. The firm has a market cap of $39.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.04, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.93.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $995.42 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Crown Castle has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.380-4.490 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Crown Castle Inc. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were given a dividend of $1.0625 per share. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio is presently 175.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CCI has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $85.00 target price (down from $90.00) on shares of Crown Castle in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $105.00 to $95.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of 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, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $116.00 to $105.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Crown Castle presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $99.39.

Insider Activity

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

About Crown Castle

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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