Plato Investment Management Ltd Buys New Shares in Crown Castle Inc. $CCI

Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 9,189 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $692,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in Crown Castle in the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the second quarter worth about $705,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the second quarter worth about $168,855,000. Clearstead Trust LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the second quarter worth approximately $62,000. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the second quarter worth approximately $9,482,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Crown Castle Stock Down 0.5%

CCI stock opened at $74.04 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $78.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.34. The stock has a market cap of $31.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.58, a PEG ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.95. 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) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by ($0.17). The business had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $995.05 million. Crown Castle had a net margin of 20.71% and a negative return on equity of 51.60%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.67 earnings per share. Crown Castle has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.530-4.650 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Crown Castle Inc. will post 4.39 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.7%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 215.74%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president directly owned 5,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $388,025.57. This trade represents a 22.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. 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 report on Tuesday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 20th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Crown Castle from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $88.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.13.

Crown Castle 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.