Kevin Stephens, a director at Crown Castle Inc. (CCI), recently bought 380 shares. The buy increased his holdings by 2%, and came to a total cost of $39,243.
This marks the first insider buy since January 2024, when another director bought 117 shares, increasing his position by about 4%. Otherwise, company insiders have been moderate sellers over the past year, including a $2.1 million share sale by the company’s CEO.
Overall, Crown Castle insiders own 0.1% of shares.
The cell tower operator is flat over the past year, unperforming the market’s 12% increase. That’s a reasonable return, given that revenues declined 5% in the past year and earnings growth was negative.
On the valuation front, Crown Castle trade at about 42 times earnings, a hefty premium to the market, even for a company with an oligopoly position with few competitors.
Action to take: Despite a high valuation and poor growth right now, shares have been in an uptrend since the start of the year. Momentum investors may like shares here.
Income-oriented investors may also like shares. Crown Castle pays a hefty 6.2% dividend at current prices, backed by the steady cash flows from its cell tower operations.
For traders, with shares in an uptrend, there may be more gains in the months ahead. The September $110 calls, last trading for about $1.90, could see mid-double-digit returns over the summer.
Disclosure: The author of this article has no position in the company mentioned here, but may trade after the next 72 hours. The author receives no compensation from any company mentioned in this article.