Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) Stock

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) had its target price lifted by Barclays from $104.00 to $113.00 in a report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the real estate investment trust's stock.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on CCI. Moffett Nathanson dropped their price objective on Crown Castle from $127.00 to $105.00 in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Crown Castle from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $127.00 to $84.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Scotiabank reduced their target price on Crown Castle from $102.00 to $99.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. JMP Securities initiated coverage on Crown Castle in a research note on Monday, January 27th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Crown Castle from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Crown Castle currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $110.29.

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Crown Castle Price Performance

NYSE CCI traded down $0.42 on Monday, hitting $104.52. 2,815,108 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,086,864. Crown Castle has a 1-year low of $84.20 and a 1-year high of $120.92. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $91.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $101.21. 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 company has a market cap of $45.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.07 and a beta of 0.89.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $1.565 dividend. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -69.71%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Crown Castle

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position 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 buying an additional 5,934,615 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 20,875,581 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,476,470,000 after acquiring an additional 747,390 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 20,849,846 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,892,332,000 after acquiring an additional 3,321,249 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,333,158 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,119,225,000 after acquiring an additional 228,007 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Crown Castle in the 4th quarter valued at $561,714,000. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.