Van ECK Associates Corp Has $16.95 Million Stock Position in Crown Castle Inc. $CCI

Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 14.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 223,758 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 28,253 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned approximately 0.05% of Crown Castle worth $16,945,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CCI. Binnacle Investments Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc now owns 1,295 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $125,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Crown Castle by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 9,305 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $757,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Crown Castle by 55.6% during the first quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC now owns 375 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its position in shares of Crown Castle by 10.2% during the first quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,488 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $121,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. grew its position in Crown Castle by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 3,754 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $334,000 after buying an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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 shares were sold at an average price of $75.89, for a total transaction of $113,835.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 5,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $388,025.57. This represents a 22.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CCI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Friday, July 24th. Citizens Jmp reduced their target price on Crown Castle from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Crown Castle from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Two equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.13.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

Shares of CCI opened at $76.25 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $76.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $83.81. Crown Castle Inc. has a 52-week low of $69.72 and a 52-week high of $100.50. The company has a market cap of $32.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.71, a PEG ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.95.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last announced its earnings results 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). Crown Castle had a negative return on equity of 51.60% and a net margin of 20.71%.The business had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $995.05 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.67 EPS. Crown Castle’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Crown Castle has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.530-4.650 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 4.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $1.0625 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.6%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is 215.74%.

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.