Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) Given Average Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the fifteen research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $116.80.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on CCI shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Crown Castle from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Crown Castle from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Crown Castle from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Crown Castle from $127.00 to $123.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, 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.

Crown Castle Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:CCI traded down $0.31 on Thursday, hitting $107.50. 1,702,685 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,624,168. The firm's 50-day moving average is $113.93 and its 200 day moving average is $105.65. The company has a market capitalization of $46.72 billion, a PE ratio of 38.12 and a beta of 0.85. Crown Castle has a 1-year low of $90.81 and a 1-year high of $120.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.54.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($1.03). The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion during 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%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.77 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Crown Castle will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a dividend of $1.565 per share. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 221.99%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Crown Castle

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Crown Castle by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 931,397 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $98,570,000 after buying an additional 8,136 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC acquired a new stake in Crown Castle during the 1st quarter valued at $1,804,000. Kovack Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Crown Castle by 49.6% during the 1st quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 13,382 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,416,000 after buying an additional 4,437 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its holdings in Crown Castle by 13.0% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 14,527 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,537,000 after buying an additional 1,671 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Crown Castle by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 7,568 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $801,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.