Public Sector Pension Investment Board Decreases Position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Key Points

• The Public Sector Pension Investment Board has reduced its holdings in Crown Castle Inc. by 47.7%, selling 199,923 shares, and now owns 0.05% of the company valued at approximately $22.8 million.
• Several other institutional investors are increasing their stakes in Crown Castle, with Vanguard Group raising its position by 10.1%, while both JPMorgan Chase and Mitsubishi UFJ Trust increased their stakes significantly.
• Crown Castle recently reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, exceeding estimates, but its revenue decreased by 4.2% year-over-year, leading to a negative net margin of 85.54%.

Public Sector Pension Investment Board cut its holdings in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 47.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 218,888 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 199,923 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned approximately 0.05% of Crown Castle worth $22,815,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CCI. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Crown Castle by 10.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,840,605 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $7,175,256,000 after acquiring an additional 6,341,150 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Crown Castle during the first quarter valued at about $305,876,000. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 60.9% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,472,921 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $570,443,000 after purchasing an additional 2,072,198 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 107.3% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,730,309 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $284,580,000 after buying an additional 1,412,992 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its stake in Crown Castle by 575.0% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 1,285,972 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $134,037,000 after buying an additional 1,095,455 shares during the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CCI. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $112.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $124.00 price target (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays lifted their price target on Crown Castle from $117.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on Crown Castle in a research report on Monday, May 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $115.00 price target for the company. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $116.24.

Crown Castle Stock Up 0.6%

NYSE:CCI traded up $0.56 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $101.61. 2,822,133 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,238,591. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $103.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $100.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.25 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.52, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.89. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1 year low of $84.20 and a 1 year high of $120.92.

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

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $1.0625 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -39.83%.

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.