Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) Coverage Initiated at Bank of America

Bank of America began coverage on shares of Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) in a research report released on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a neutral rating and a $110.00 target price on the real estate investment trust's stock.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Crown Castle from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $105.00 in a report on Monday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Crown Castle from $121.00 to $115.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. JMP Securities initiated coverage on Crown Castle in a research note on Monday, January 27th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Crown Castle from $102.00 to $99.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Raymond James raised Crown Castle from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $128.00 to $122.00 in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $110.00.

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Crown Castle Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE CCI traded down $1.98 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $104.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,168,611 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,646,278. 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 $45.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.03 and a beta of 0.89. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $93.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $100.97. Crown Castle has a one year low of $84.20 and a one year high of $120.92.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $1.565 dividend. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.00%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio is -69.71%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Crown Castle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $561,714,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Crown Castle by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,499,455 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $5,672,451,000 after purchasing an additional 5,934,615 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Crown Castle by 23.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 17,528,597 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,079,417,000 after purchasing an additional 3,371,186 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Crown Castle by 433.8% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,968,959 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $470,838,000 after buying an additional 3,225,460 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in Crown Castle by 37.3% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 5,793,842 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $525,849,000 after buying an additional 1,573,043 shares in the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.