Brokerages Set Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) Target Price at $117.00

Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $117.00.

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Crown Castle from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Crown Castle from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Crown Castle from $103.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup set a $128.00 price target on Crown Castle in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Crown Castle from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $100.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 10th.

Crown Castle Price Performance

CCI stock opened at $90.66 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $104.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $106.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.15 and a beta of 0.86. Crown Castle has a 1 year low of $89.64 and a 1 year high of $120.92.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last issued 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 analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.77 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Crown Castle will post 6.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.90%. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is 221.99%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Crown Castle

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. lifted its position in Crown Castle by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 783 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $93,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 2.4% during the second quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 3,869 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $376,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC raised 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 purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. True North Advisors LLC lifted 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 worth $278,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, Granite Investment Partners LLC grew its position in 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 buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

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.