Teacher Retirement System of Texas Increases Stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 226.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 83,703 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 58,071 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Crown Castle were worth $8,724,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CCI. Twin Tree Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Crown Castle during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. American National Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Crown Castle during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Institutional investors own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Crown Castle Price Performance

Crown Castle stock traded down $1.14 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $101.78. 2,110,412 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,933,450. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.32 billion, a PE ratio of -9.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.88. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12-month low of $84.20 and a 12-month high of $120.92. The business's 50-day moving average is $101.48 and its 200-day moving average is $96.96.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.72 by ($0.62). The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.04 billion. Crown Castle had a negative net margin of 78.12% and a negative return on equity of 164.40%. The firm's revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.72 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were paid 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 4.18%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -39.50%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of Crown Castle stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.72, for a total transaction of $384,192.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 6,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $689,944.80. This trade represents a 35.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of the business'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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,762,542.98. This represents a 15.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,600 shares of company stock worth $3,362,752 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on CCI. Wall Street Zen lowered Crown Castle from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Raymond James Financial upgraded Crown Castle from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $128.00 to $122.00 in a research report on Friday, March 14th. UBS Group upgraded Crown Castle from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $118.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Crown Castle from $108.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, New Street Research raised Crown Castle from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $112.71.

About Crown Castle

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.