#3 - Crown Castle International (NYSE:CCI)
Crown Castle International (NYSE:CCI) is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns and leases cellular infrastructure. This includes the devices that enable mobile data traffic and access to the internet from mobile devices. The company stands to see significant growth as the 5G infrastructure continues to be built out throughout the country.
That’s because Crown Castle invests in the small cell towers that will have to be placed on streetlights and buildings to allow 5G technology. Unlike the transition from 3G to 4G will require an infrastructure that goes beyond our existing cell towers. The transition to 5G is going to require a significant investment in this “boring” infrastructure.
And the thing about these small cell towers is that to deliver the ultrafast connection speeds that will be a hallmark of 5G, there has to be a massive amount of smaller cell towers. In fact, CCI leases out 65,000 of these towers. Although 5G deployment has been and continues to be stymied by the lockdown, CCI expects a significant increase in activity in the second half of 2020.
In its April earnings report, the company said it did not forecast a significant business impact in the first quarter. And although there were many unknowns, the company did not foresee a lasting impact.
In 2020, CCI stock is up over 10% and has risen over 25% in the last twelve months. CCI has also delivered 5 consecutive years of dividend growth. And because the company is a REIT, it pays at least 90% of its earnings to shareholders as dividends.
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.
- Current Price
- $90.66
- Consensus Rating
- Hold
- Ratings Breakdown
- 3 Buy Ratings, 10 Hold Ratings, 1 Sell Ratings.
- Consensus Price Target
- $117.00 (29.1% Upside)
