Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,730,000 shares, a decline of 5.3% from the January 15th total of 6,050,000 shares. Approximately 1.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 3,080,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on CCI shares. JMP Securities started coverage on shares of Crown Castle in a research report on Monday, January 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. Moffett Nathanson cut their price objective on Crown Castle from $127.00 to $105.00 in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Barclays upgraded shares of Crown Castle from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $117.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price target on Crown Castle from $118.00 to $102.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $108.75.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of CCI. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Twin Tree Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 107.9% in the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 262 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC grew its position in Crown Castle by 300.0% in the fourth quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 400 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in Crown Castle in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Crown Castle Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of CCI stock opened at $89.36 on Wednesday. Crown Castle has a 12 month low of $84.20 and a 12 month high of $120.92. The firm has a market cap of $38.84 billion, a PE ratio of 31.69 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $90.42 and a 200-day moving average of $103.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43.

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.