Westpac Banking Corp Trims Position in Crown Castle Inc. $CCI

Westpac Banking Corp cut its stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,928 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 568 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $1,842,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the first quarter worth $2,616,000. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 11.8% in the 1st quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 35,781 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,729,000 after acquiring an additional 3,763 shares in the last quarter. Calton & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the 1st quarter valued at about $175,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 4.3% during the first quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 33,525 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,494,000 after purchasing an additional 1,381 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Alliance LLC bought a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the first quarter worth approximately $277,000. 90.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Crown Castle Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:CCI traded down $0.45 during trading on Monday, reaching $91.23. 79,795 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,255,079. Crown Castle Inc. has a 52-week low of $84.20 and a 52-week high of $115.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.94. The business’s fifty day moving average is $94.55 and its 200-day moving average is $99.66.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.05 billion. Crown Castle had a negative net margin of 95.37% and a negative return on equity of 619.62%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.84 EPS. Crown Castle has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.230-4.350 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be given 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 is Monday, December 15th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -39.98%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Daniel K. Schlanger sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.08, for a total transaction of $2,942,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 65,571 shares in the company, valued at $6,431,203.68. This represents a 31.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Crown Castle from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Crown Castle in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Wolfe Research raised Crown Castle from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $114.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Crown Castle from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $112.18.

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.