Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 7,351 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 1.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 594,389 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 7,351 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.14% of Crown Castle worth $61,953,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mutual Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Crown Castle by 20.5% during the first quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 8,459 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $848,000 after acquiring an additional 1,437 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in Crown Castle by 0.3% during the first quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 37,357 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,894,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Crown Castle during the first quarter worth $202,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in Crown Castle by 226.6% during the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 83,703 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $8,724,000 after acquiring an additional 58,071 shares during the period. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in Crown Castle by 10.7% during the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 3,487 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $363,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

Crown Castle stock traded down $0.25 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $102.92. 1,246,284 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,936,756. Crown Castle Inc. has a 52-week low of $84.20 and a 52-week high of $120.92. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $101.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $96.92. The company has a market cap of $44.82 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.57, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.88.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.72 by ($0.62). Crown Castle had a negative return on equity of 164.40% and a negative net margin of 78.12%. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.72 earnings per share. Crown Castle's quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were given a dividend of $1.0625 per share. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.13%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. Crown Castle's payout ratio is -39.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.38, for a total transaction of $2,127,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,571 shares in the company, valued at $11,762,542.98. The trade was a 15.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.72, for a total value of $384,192.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 6,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $689,944.80. The trade was a 35.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 31,600 shares of company stock worth $3,362,752 over the last ninety days. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays lifted their price target on Crown Castle from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. UBS Group raised Crown Castle from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $118.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Wolfe Research raised Crown Castle from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Crown Castle from $121.00 to $115.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Argus raised Crown Castle to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $112.71.

Crown Castle 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.