Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd Buys 12,610 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. $CCI

Key Points

• Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd boosted its Crown Castle stake by 14.2% in the fourth quarter, buying 12,610 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 101,289 shares worth about $9.0 million.
• Several other institutional investors also added to their positions, and institutional ownership remains very high at 90.77% of the company’s stock.
• Crown Castle reported quarterly earnings of $1.02 per share, well above analyst estimates of $0.47, while revenue came in at $1.01 billion; the company also maintains a quarterly dividend of $1.0625 per share, implying a 4.6% yield.

Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd increased its stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 14.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 101,289 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 12,610 shares during the quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd's holdings in Crown Castle were worth $9,002,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Crown Castle by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,769,393 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $6,200,406,000 after acquiring an additional 386,733 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Crown Castle by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,728,541 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,096,587,000 after buying an additional 266,963 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Crown Castle by 33.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,437,685 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $621,172,000 after buying an additional 1,605,291 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Crown Castle by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,185,915 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $596,876,000 after buying an additional 177,896 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Crown Castle by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,621,490 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $542,418,000 after buying an additional 232,549 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on CCI shares. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Zacks Research raised shares of Crown Castle from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Crown Castle from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th. HSBC reduced their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $107.00 to $88.40 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $85.00 target price (down from $90.00) on shares of Crown Castle in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $99.39.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CCI opened at $91.48 on Wednesday. Crown Castle Inc. has a 52 week low of $75.96 and a 52 week high of $115.76. The company's fifty day moving average is $86.15 and its 200-day moving average is $87.83. The company has a market capitalization of $39.93 billion, a PE ratio of 37.80, a P/E/G ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.93.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.55. Crown Castle had a net margin of 25.13% and a negative return on equity of 64.64%. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $995.42 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.10 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Crown Castle has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.380-4.490 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Crown Castle Inc. will post 4.22 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.6%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio is 175.62%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 4,650 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.34, for a total transaction 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 represents a 15.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $507,442. This trade represents a 34.09% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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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