Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) Hits New 12-Month Low - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Crown Castle shares hit a new 52-week low, trading as low as $65.32 amid a decline below both their 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed but leans positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $94.07; several firms recently lowered their targets.
• The REIT reported quarterly earnings and revenue above estimates and maintains a substantial dividend, paying $1.0625 per quarter for a 6.3% annualized yield, though its payout ratio is elevated at 215.74%.

Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday. The company traded as low as $65.32 and last traded at $67.5320, with a volume of 3256624 shares. The stock had previously closed at $66.44.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on CCI. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an "underweight" rating and set a $80.00 price objective (down from $85.00) on shares of Crown Castle in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Citizens Jmp dropped 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 note on Friday, July 24th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Crown Castle in a research note on Friday, June 26th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Crown Castle currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $94.07.

Crown Castle Trading Up 1.6%

The firm has a market capitalization of $28.73 billion, a PE ratio of 34.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $73.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.89.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was down 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.67 earnings per share. Crown Castle has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.530-4.650 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Crown Castle Inc. will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were issued a $1.0625 dividend. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 15th. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 215.74%.

Insider Activity at Crown Castle

In other Crown Castle news, VP Robert Collins sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.89, for a total transaction 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 represents a 22.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Crown Castle

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CCI. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 15,333 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,022,000 after acquiring an additional 1,055 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional raised its holdings in Crown Castle by 106.3% during the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 819 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Crown Castle by 19.4% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 36,989 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,801,000 after purchasing an additional 6,020 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Crown Castle by 0.9% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,023,394 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,743,562,000 after purchasing an additional 211,633 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Crown Castle by 242.8% during the second quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 473 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Crown Castle Company Profile

Crown Castle Inc NYSE: CCI is a communications infrastructure company that owns, operates and leases wireless communications assets in the United States. Its infrastructure helps wireless carriers, government agencies and other customers expand network coverage and capacity for voice, data and other wireless services.

The company's portfolio includes cell towers and fiber-based infrastructure. Crown Castle provides space on its towers for wireless equipment and offers fiber solutions that support small-cell networks, distributed antenna systems and other high-capacity communications applications.

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