Short Interest in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) Rises By 20.2%

Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,500,000 shares, a growth of 20.2% from the February 28th total of 7,070,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,510,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days. Approximately 2.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group upgraded Crown Castle from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $118.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Argus raised shares of Crown Castle to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Crown Castle in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $110.00 target price on the stock. Moffett Nathanson dropped their price target on Crown Castle from $127.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Crown Castle from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $110.00.

Institutional Trading of Crown Castle

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Crown Castle by 25.9% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 5,853 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $694,000 after purchasing an additional 1,203 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 21.5% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 17,919 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,126,000 after acquiring an additional 3,176 shares during the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,318,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Crown Castle during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $297,000. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its position in Crown Castle by 2,413.9% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 11,061 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,312,000 after acquiring an additional 10,621 shares during the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Crown Castle Stock Down 5.8 %

NYSE:CCI traded down $6.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $100.89. The stock had a trading volume of 4,772,543 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,880,876. Crown Castle has a fifty-two week low of $84.20 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92. The business's 50 day moving average is $95.67 and its 200 day moving average is $100.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market cap of $43.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.78 and a beta of 0.93.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $1.565 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.20%. Crown Castle's payout ratio is -69.71%.

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.