Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) Receives $108.75 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the seventeen research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $108.75.

CCI has been the topic of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Crown Castle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $127.00 to $84.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Barclays raised Crown Castle from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $117.00 to $104.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Crown Castle from $118.00 to $102.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Crown Castle from $128.00 to $106.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson reduced their price objective on Crown Castle from $127.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd.

Crown Castle Stock Up 2.7 %

Crown Castle stock opened at $97.78 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.67 and a beta of 0.88. Crown Castle has a fifty-two week low of $84.20 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $90.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $101.94.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $1.565 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.40%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 221.99%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Crown Castle

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CCI. Probity Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. Probity Advisors Inc. now owns 4,558 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $414,000 after purchasing an additional 557 shares during the period. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH raised its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 811.5% in the 4th quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 49,593 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,501,000 after purchasing an additional 44,152 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the 4th quarter worth about $45,348,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Montchanin Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Montchanin Asset Management LLC now owns 5,110 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $464,000 after purchasing an additional 850 shares during the period. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.