The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Purchases New Stake in Crown Castle Inc. $CCI

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired 2.92 million Crown Castle shares worth approximately $220.8 million, giving it a 0.69% stake. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 90.77% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with Crown Castle carrying a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $95.13, despite several recent target-price reductions.
• Crown Castle reported quarterly EPS of $0.22, below the $0.39 consensus estimate, while revenue reached $1.01 billion and declined 4.9% year over year. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.0625, equivalent to a 5.6% annualized yield.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 2,915,656 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $220,803,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.69% of Crown Castle as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CCI. Wiser Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in Crown Castle during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Crown Castle by 55.6% during the first quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC now owns 375 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Crown Castle from $88.00 to $82.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Crown Castle in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on Crown Castle from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Citizens Jmp dropped their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Crown Castle from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Crown Castle currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $95.13.

Insider Transactions at Crown Castle

In other Crown Castle news, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.89, for a total value of $113,835.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 5,113 shares in the company, valued at approximately $388,025.57. The trade was a 22.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Crown Castle Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of CCI opened at $76.38 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $77.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.05. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12-month low of $69.72 and a 12-month high of $104.08. The stock has a market cap of $32.50 billion, a PE ratio of 38.77, a PEG ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.95.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.17). Crown Castle had a net margin of 20.71% and a negative return on equity of 51.60%. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $995.05 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.67 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Crown Castle has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.530-4.650 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Crown Castle Inc. will post 4.39 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a $1.0625 dividend. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio is presently 215.74%.

About Crown Castle

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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