Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) Lowered to “Underweight” Rating by Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has $100.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $105.00.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Crown Castle from $127.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays increased their price target on Crown Castle from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Crown Castle from $103.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $116.53.

Crown Castle Stock Down 0.4 %

CCI opened at $98.79 on Tuesday. 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 has a twelve month low of $92.48 and a twelve month high of $120.92. The company has a market cap of $42.93 billion, a PE ratio of 35.17 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $107.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $107.14.

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

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $1.565 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.34%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 221.99%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Crown Castle

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CCI. State Street Corp raised its position in Crown Castle by 3.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 20,875,581 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,476,470,000 after purchasing an additional 747,390 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 23.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 17,528,597 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,079,417,000 after buying an additional 3,371,186 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,105,151 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,434,229,000 after buying an additional 151,990 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Crown Castle by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,177,250 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $603,518,000 after acquiring an additional 67,072 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Crown Castle by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 5,174,920 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $613,900,000 after acquiring an additional 348,296 shares during the period. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Crown Castle

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.