Handelsbanken Fonder AB Boosts Stake in Crown Castle Inc. $CCI

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 234,452 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,205 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $17,755,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Crown Castle by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,769,393 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,200,406,000 after purchasing an additional 386,733 shares during the period. Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its holdings in Crown Castle by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 39,790,292 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,536,214,000 after acquiring an additional 3,953,685 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Crown Castle by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,239,559 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,976,430,000 after acquiring an additional 511,018 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Crown Castle by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,986,852 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,243,012,000 after purchasing an additional 380,419 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 15.7% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 13,463,182 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,094,691,000 after purchasing an additional 1,828,065 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Crown Castle Price Performance

NYSE CCI opened at $73.89 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $80.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.66. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12 month low of $69.72 and a 12 month high of $104.61. The company has a market capitalization of $31.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 0.95.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.0625 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.8%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 215.74%.

Insider Activity at Crown Castle

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on CCI shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Crown Castle in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Crown Castle from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $94.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Friday, June 26th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.13.

About Crown Castle

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.