Principal Financial Group Inc. Raises Stake in Crown Castle Inc. $CCI

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 422.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,581,154 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 2,895,756 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.82% of Crown Castle worth $318,258,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CCI. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Crown Castle in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Wiser Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in Crown Castle in the third quarter valued at $29,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp purchased a new stake in Crown Castle in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in Crown Castle in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Crown Castle from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th. Wolfe Research lowered their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $114.00 to $94.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 6th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Crown Castle from a "sell (d)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Crown Castle from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Crown Castle in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $102.00 price objective on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Crown Castle presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $99.39.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Crown Castle Stock Down 1.2%

NYSE:CCI opened at $89.11 on Wednesday. Crown Castle Inc. has a 52 week low of $75.96 and a 52 week high of $115.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.89 billion, a PE ratio of 36.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.93. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $85.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $88.09.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.55. Crown Castle had a negative return on equity of 64.64% and a net margin of 25.13%.The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $995.42 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. The company's quarterly 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. Sell-side analysts expect that Crown Castle Inc. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were given a dividend of $1.0625 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.8%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 175.62%.

Crown Castle 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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