Short Interest in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) Rises By 5.6%

Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,310,000 shares, an increase of 5.6% from the November 30th total of 6,920,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,900,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Crown Castle Price Performance

Shares of CCI stock opened at $90.76 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $101.33 and its 200 day moving average is $106.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. The stock has a market cap of $39.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.18 and a beta of 0.86. Crown Castle has a twelve month low of $88.92 and a twelve month high of $120.92.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($1.03). The business 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.77 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Crown Castle will post 6.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $1.565 per share. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.90%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 221.99%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Crown Castle

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CCI. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 159.0% during the second quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 272 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its holdings in Crown Castle by 107.9% in the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 262 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC raised its position in Crown Castle by 3,672.7% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 415 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Crown Castle during the 3rd quarter valued at about $47,000. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CCI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup set a $128.00 price target on Crown Castle in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target 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. Finally, 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $113.93.

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.