Crown Castle Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:CCI)

Key Points

• Unusually high options activity: Traders purchased 16,981 Crown Castle call options, approximately 886% above the typical daily volume of 1,722 contracts.
• Analyst outlook remains mixed: Several firms lowered their price targets, and Crown Castle has a consensus “Hold” rating with a $94.86 target price.
• Shares and dividend: The stock rose 1.9% to $74.67, while the company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.0625, equivalent to a 5.7% annualized yield.

Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Traders purchased 16,981 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 886% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,722 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CCI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citizens Jmp decreased their price target on Crown Castle from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price 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. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Crown Castle in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $88.00 to $82.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Crown Castle presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $94.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Crown Castle news, VP Robert Collins sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.89, for a total value of $113,835.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 5,113 shares in the company, valued at approximately $388,025.57. This trade represents a 22.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the second quarter worth about $3,326,154,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $594,670,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $456,897,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $429,341,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the second quarter valued at $348,779,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Crown Castle Stock Up 1.9%

NYSE CCI traded up $1.42 on Wednesday, reaching $74.67. The company had a trading volume of 750,777 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,593,672. The stock's 50 day moving average is $76.04 and its 200-day moving average is $82.80. The stock has a market cap of $31.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.90, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.95. Crown Castle has a 52 week low of $69.72 and a 52 week high of $100.50.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $995.05 million. Crown Castle had a negative return on equity of 51.60% and a net margin of 20.71%.The company's revenue was down 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.67 earnings per share. Crown Castle has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.530-4.650 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Crown Castle will post 4.38 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a $1.0625 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.7%. Crown Castle's payout ratio is 215.74%.

Crown Castle Company Profile

Crown Castle Inc NYSE: CCI is a communications infrastructure company that owns, operates and leases shared wireless infrastructure in the United States. Its assets support wireless carriers, broadcasters, government agencies and other communications providers by enabling the transmission of voice, data and video services.

The company's primary infrastructure includes cell towers and other tower sites that host antennas and related equipment. Crown Castle has also developed and operated fiber networks and small-cell systems, which help wireless providers expand network capacity and coverage in densely populated areas and along high-traffic corridors.

Founded in 1994 and headquartered in Houston, Texas, Crown Castle has historically served customers across major U.S.

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