Q1 EPS Estimates for Crown Castle Lowered by Zacks Research

Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) - Research analysts at Zacks Research dropped their Q1 2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Crown Castle in a report issued on Tuesday, July 1st. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now anticipates that the real estate investment trust will post earnings of $0.98 per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $1.00. The consensus estimate for Crown Castle's current full-year earnings is $6.67 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Crown Castle's FY2026 earnings at $4.30 EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at $1.19 EPS, Q2 2027 earnings at $1.28 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $5.15 EPS.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. Crown Castle had a negative net margin of 78.12% and a negative return on equity of 164.40%. The business's revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.72 earnings per share.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Barclays lifted their price target on Crown Castle from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Crown Castle from $121.00 to $115.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. New Street Research raised Crown Castle from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp increased their price target on Crown Castle from $120.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Crown Castle from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $85.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Monday, March 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $112.71.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

Shares of CCI traded down $0.25 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $102.92. 1,246,284 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,929,989. The business's 50-day moving average price is $101.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $96.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.82 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.88. Crown Castle has a 12 month low of $84.20 and a 12 month high of $120.92.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a dividend of $1.0625 per share. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio is -39.50%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.38, for a total transaction of $2,127,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,762,542.98. This represents a 15.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total value of $850,960.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 20,528 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,183,563.36. This represents a 28.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 31,600 shares of company stock valued at $3,362,752 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Crown Castle

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Crown Castle by 10.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,840,605 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $7,175,256,000 after purchasing an additional 6,341,150 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Crown Castle by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 21,387,895 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,229,260,000 after buying an additional 538,049 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Crown Castle by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,333,158 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,119,225,000 after buying an additional 228,007 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the 4th quarter worth approximately $561,714,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,144,359 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $557,662,000 after acquiring an additional 58,903 shares during the period. 90.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.