Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI)

Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors bought 16,981 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 886% compared to the average daily volume of 1,722 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Robert 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 value of $113,835.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 5,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $388,025.57. This represents a 22.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CCI. Pingora Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Crown Castle in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Crown Castle by 55.6% in the 1st quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC now owns 375 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Crown Castle in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Crown Castle by 242.8% during the second quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 473 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 335 shares during the period. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Crown Castle Trading Up 1.9%

NYSE CCI traded up $1.42 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $74.67. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 750,777 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,593,672. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $76.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.90, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.95. Crown Castle has a twelve month low of $69.72 and a twelve month high of $100.50.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.18. Crown Castle had a net margin of 20.71% and a negative return on equity of 51.60%. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $995.05 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.67 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Crown Castle has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.530-4.650 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Crown Castle will post 4.38 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued 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 5.7%. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is 215.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Crown Castle from $88.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Crown Castle in a research note on Friday, June 26th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered 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 report on Monday, July 20th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their target price on Crown Castle from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.86.

Crown Castle Company Profile

Crown Castle Inc (NYSE: CCI) is a communications infrastructure company that owns, operates and leases shared wireless infrastructure in the United States. Its assets support wireless carriers, broadcasters, government agencies and other communications providers by enabling the transmission of voice, data and video services.

The company’s primary infrastructure includes cell towers and other tower sites that host antennas and related equipment. Crown Castle has also developed and operated fiber networks and small-cell systems, which help wireless providers expand network capacity and coverage in densely populated areas and along high-traffic corridors.

Founded in 1994 and headquartered in Houston, Texas, Crown Castle has historically served customers across major U.S.