Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) Short Interest Update

Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,740,000 shares, an increase of 26.7% from the October 15th total of 5,320,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,270,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.0 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. boosted its stake 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 valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its position in Crown Castle by 2.4% in the second quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 3,869 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $376,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 2,262 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $221,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. True North Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 4.2% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Finally, Granite Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in Crown Castle by 0.5% during the second quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 19,439 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,899,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CCI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Crown Castle from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Crown Castle from $127.00 to $123.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Crown Castle from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Crown Castle from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Crown Castle presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $116.87.

Crown Castle Trading Up 0.9 %

CCI stock traded up $0.88 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $103.80. 2,289,527 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,603,859. Crown Castle has a 1-year low of $92.48 and a 1-year high of $120.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.11 billion, a PE ratio of 36.62 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $112.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $106.38.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($1.03). The company had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. Crown Castle had a net margin of 18.59% and a return on equity of 20.98%. Crown Castle's quarterly revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.77 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Crown Castle will post 6.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $1.565 dividend. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Crown Castle's payout ratio is currently 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.

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