Principle Wealth Partners LLC Makes New Investment in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Key Points

• Principle Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Crown Castle Inc. during Q1, purchasing 3,120 shares valued at approximately $325,000, amidst increasing interest from other institutional investors.
• Research firms have shown optimism for Crown Castle, with several boosting their ratings and price targets; for instance, Wells Fargo upgraded the stock to "overweight" and raised the target price from $105 to $125.
• Crown Castle reported a negative net margin of 85.54% and a decrease in revenue year-over-year, which has led to a dividend cut, with the annualized dividend now at $4.25 with a yield of 3.81%.

Principle Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 3,120 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $325,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. American National Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its stake in Crown Castle by 62.1% during the first quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 347 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on CCI. Wells Fargo & Company raised Crown Castle from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Crown Castle from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America started coverage on Crown Castle in a research report on Monday, May 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. New Street Research raised Crown Castle from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Crown Castle from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $115.94.

Crown Castle Stock Down 2.0%

NYSE CCI traded down $2.31 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $111.60. 3,419,991 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,744,282. The company has a 50 day moving average of $102.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $98.48. Crown Castle Inc. has a 52-week low of $84.20 and a 52-week high of $120.92. The firm has a market cap of $48.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.46, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.88.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.02. Crown Castle had a negative return on equity of 619.62% and a negative net margin of 85.54%. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a $1.0625 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.81%. Crown Castle's payout ratio is currently -39.50%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total value of $850,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 20,528 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,183,563.36. This represents a 28.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were 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 directly owned 110,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,762,542.98. This trade represents a 15.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 31,600 shares of company stock worth $3,362,752. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.