Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $116.87.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $103.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays upped their target price on Crown Castle from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America raised their price target on Crown Castle from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $127.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

CCI stock opened at $105.44 on Monday. Crown Castle has a twelve month low of $92.48 and a twelve month high of $120.92. The firm has a market cap of $45.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.39 and a beta of 0.86. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $110.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $106.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($1.03). The company had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. Crown Castle had a return on equity of 20.98% and a net margin of 18.59%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.77 EPS. Analysts predict that Crown Castle will post 6.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $1.565 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.94%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 221.99%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Crown Castle

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. boosted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 783 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $93,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in Crown Castle by 2.4% in the second quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 3,869 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $376,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 4.4% during the second quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 2,262 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $221,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. True North Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 4.2% during the third quarter. True North Advisors LLC now owns 2,345 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $278,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Granite Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Crown Castle by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 19,439 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,899,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Crown Castle Company Profile

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.