Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the fourteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $114.21.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CCI shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Crown Castle from $115.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th. Argus downgraded shares of Crown Castle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $126.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $133.00 to $118.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $126.00 price target (up from $124.00) on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Friday, June 14th.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

CCI opened at $97.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.73, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $98.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $104.90. The company has a market capitalization of $42.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.82. Crown Castle has a 1 year low of $84.72 and a 1 year high of $119.50.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.92). Crown Castle had a net margin of 20.32% and a return on equity of 21.30%. The company had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.63 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.91 EPS. Crown Castle’s revenue was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Crown Castle will post 6.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $1.565 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.43%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 195.63%.

Institutional Trading of Crown Castle

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 56,609,569 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,990,991,000 after purchasing an additional 673,243 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Crown Castle by 8.9% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 13,078,861 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,203,648,000 after acquiring an additional 1,064,382 shares during the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. boosted its stake in Crown Castle by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 11,375,567 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,310,559,000 after acquiring an additional 834,198 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,260,932 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,297,147,000 after buying an additional 1,126,394 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 42.8% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 7,083,665 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $651,910,000 after buying an additional 2,121,603 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

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.