Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) Given Average Rating of "Hold" by Analysts

Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Hold" by the fourteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have given a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $117.00.

CCI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on Crown Castle from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Crown Castle from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Crown Castle from $103.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Crown Castle from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Crown Castle from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $105.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Crown Castle

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CCI. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Crown Castle during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Asset Dedication LLC raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its stake in Crown Castle by 107.9% during 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 during the period. New Millennium Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC increased its stake in Crown Castle by 3,672.7% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 415 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

CCI traded down $0.07 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $90.66. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,348,779 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,719,135. The company's 50-day moving average is $105.16 and its 200-day moving average is $106.92. Crown Castle has a 52 week low of $89.64 and a 52 week high of $120.92. The firm has a market cap of $39.40 billion, a PE ratio of 32.15 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.54.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. Crown Castle had a net margin of 18.59% and a return on equity of 20.98%. Crown Castle's revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.77 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Crown Castle will post 6.66 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.565 per share. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Crown Castle's payout ratio is presently 221.99%.

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.