UBS Group Upgrades Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) to “Buy”

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) was upgraded by equities research analysts at UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has a $118.00 price target on the real estate investment trust’s stock. UBS Group’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 14.35% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on CCI. Moffett Nathanson lowered their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $127.00 to $105.00 in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James upgraded Crown Castle from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $122.00 in a research report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Crown Castle from $116.00 to $96.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Crown Castle from $118.00 to $102.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $109.12.

Crown Castle Trading Up 8.5 %

Shares of Crown Castle stock opened at $103.20 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.54. The company has a fifty day moving average of $91.00 and a 200 day moving average of $101.40. The company has a market capitalization of $44.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.59 and a beta of 0.89. Crown Castle has a fifty-two week low of $84.20 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Crown Castle

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CCI. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Crown Castle in the 4th quarter worth about $561,714,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 5,934,615 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 23.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 3,371,186 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 433.8% in the third 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 purchasing an additional 3,225,460 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in Crown Castle by 37.3% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 1,573,043 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

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.