Principal Financial Group Inc. Lowers Position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 1.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm 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 quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CCI. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Crown Castle by 9,471.0% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 747,590 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $748,000 after acquiring an additional 739,779 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in Crown Castle by 130.4% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 12,903 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,171,000 after acquiring an additional 7,302 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Crown Castle by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 34,910 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,168,000 after acquiring an additional 2,365 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Crown Castle by 29.5% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 367,900 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $33,391,000 after acquiring an additional 83,915 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in Crown Castle by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 20,215 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,835,000 after acquiring an additional 1,102 shares during the period. 90.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Crown Castle Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of CCI traded down $1.20 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $101.72. 337,600 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,246,247. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1-year low of $84.20 and a 1-year high of $120.92. The business has a 50 day moving average of $101.48 and a 200 day moving average of $96.96. The company has a market capitalization of $44.30 billion, a PE ratio of -9.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.88.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.10 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.72 EPS. Crown Castle's quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a $1.0625 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.18%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -39.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Crown Castle news, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.72, for a total value of $384,192.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 6,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $689,944.80. This represents a 35.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.38, for a total value of $2,127,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 110,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,762,542.98. This represents a 15.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 31,600 shares of company stock worth $3,362,752. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on CCI shares. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Crown Castle from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $122.00 in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Crown Castle from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Monday, May 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $108.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Crown Castle presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $112.71.

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.