Cooke & Bieler LP Cuts Stock Position in Crown Castle Inc. $CCI

Cooke & Bieler LP lowered its stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 19.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,280,973 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 538,863 shares during the quarter. Crown Castle comprises approximately 2.3% of Cooke & Bieler LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Cooke & Bieler LP owned 0.52% of Crown Castle worth $234,324,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Crown Castle in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Centerpoint Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Crown Castle in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Crown Castle in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Crown Castle in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 47.8% in the second quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 303 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Crown Castle Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of Crown Castle stock opened at $90.35 on Friday. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12-month low of $84.20 and a 12-month high of $115.76. The stock has a market cap of $39.35 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.95. The business’s 50 day moving average is $96.12 and its 200-day moving average is $100.50.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.08. Crown Castle had a negative return on equity of 619.62% and a negative net margin of 95.37%.The company had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.84 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Crown Castle has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.230-4.350 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a $1.0625 dividend. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is presently -39.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup cut their price target on Crown Castle from $124.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Raymond James Financial cut their target price on Crown Castle from $124.00 to $120.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Crown Castle from $120.00 to $114.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Wolfe Research upgraded Crown Castle from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $114.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Crown Castle in a research report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $113.12.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Daniel K. Schlanger sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.08, for a total value of $2,942,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 65,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,431,203.68. This represents a 31.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.