Westpac Banking Corp Acquires New Shares in Crown Castle Inc. $CCI

Key Points

• Westpac Banking Corp acquired 27,346 Crown Castle shares worth approximately $2.07 million in the second quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 90.77% of CCI.
• Crown Castle reported quarterly EPS of $0.22, missing the $0.39 consensus estimate, while revenue reached $1.01 billion and declined 4.9% year over year. The company issued fiscal 2026 EPS guidance of $4.53 to $4.65.
• Crown Castle declared a quarterly dividend of $1.0625 per share, equating to an annualized $4.25 payout and a 5.6% yield. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $95.13.

Westpac Banking Corp purchased a new stake 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 & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 27,346 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $2,071,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CCI. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Crown Castle during the second quarter worth $3,326,154,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Crown Castle during the 4th quarter valued at about $594,670,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Crown Castle by 124.2% during the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 11,635,117 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,034,013,000 after buying an additional 6,445,237 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the 2nd quarter worth $429,341,000. Finally, Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its stake in Crown Castle by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 39,790,292 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,536,214,000 after buying an additional 3,953,685 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Crown Castle

In related news, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.89, for a total value of $113,835.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 5,113 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $388,025.57. This represents a 22.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

Crown Castle stock opened at $75.53 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $32.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.34, a PEG ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.95. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $77.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.11. Crown Castle Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $69.72 and a fifty-two week high of $104.61.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $995.05 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.67 EPS. Crown Castle's revenue for the quarter was down 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Crown Castle has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.530-4.650 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 4.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $1.0625 per share. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. Crown Castle's payout ratio is 215.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on CCI shares. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Crown Castle in a research note on Friday, June 26th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Crown Castle in a research report on Wednesday. Citizens Jmp decreased their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price target on Crown Castle from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Crown Castle presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $95.13.

Crown Castle Company 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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