Norges Bank Makes New $594.67 Million Investment in Crown Castle Inc. $CCI

Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 6,691,459 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $594,670,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 1.54% of Crown Castle at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CCI. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in Crown Castle during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Wiser Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in Crown Castle during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp purchased a new position in Crown Castle during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in Crown Castle during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its position in Crown Castle by 128.7% during the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 382 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Crown Castle Price Performance

NYSE CCI opened at $91.56 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $39.96 billion, a PE ratio of 37.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.93. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $86.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.66. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.96 and a 1-year high of $115.76.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.55. Crown Castle had a negative return on equity of 64.64% and a net margin of 25.13%.The business had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $995.42 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Crown Castle has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.380-4.490 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Crown Castle Inc. will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a $1.0625 dividend. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 175.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CCI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Crown Castle from $84.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. KeyCorp raised their target price on Crown Castle from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Crown Castle from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Crown Castle in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $102.00 target price on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Crown Castle from $105.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $98.52.

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.