Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Buys New Position in Crown Castle Inc. $CCI

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board purchased a new stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,668,256 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $126,337,000. Crown Castle comprises 0.8% of Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board owned about 0.38% of Crown Castle at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CCI. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,326,154,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Crown Castle in the 4th quarter worth approximately $594,670,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in Crown Castle by 124.2% during the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 6,445,237 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in Crown Castle during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $429,341,000. Finally, Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its stake in Crown Castle by 11.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 3,953,685 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Crown Castle Trading Down 0.5%

CCI opened at $74.04 on Wednesday. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12-month low of $69.72 and a 12-month high of $104.61. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $78.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.50 billion, a PE ratio of 37.58, a P/E/G ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.95.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.17). The business had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $995.05 million. Crown Castle had a net margin of 20.71% and a negative return on equity of 51.60%. The firm’s revenue was down 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. 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, analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 4.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on CCI. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Crown Castle from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Crown Castle from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Crown Castle from $94.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on Crown Castle from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Crown Castle presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.