Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,110,000 shares, a decline of 6.1% from the August 15th total of 5,440,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,400,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Insider Activity at Crown Castle

In other Crown Castle news, COO Michael Joseph Kavanagh sold 10,883 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.72, for a total transaction of $1,128,784.76. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 75,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,792,172.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Crown Castle

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised its position in Crown Castle by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 3,083 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $355,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. Level Four Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Crown Castle by 32.3% in the 4th quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,184 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $367,000 after buying an additional 777 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its position in Crown Castle by 78.8% in the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 4,921 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $567,000 after buying an additional 2,169 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 329,980 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,010,000 after buying an additional 26,880 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,968 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $918,000 after acquiring an additional 992 shares during the period. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CCI opened at $117.78 on Thursday. Crown Castle has a 1 year low of $84.72 and a 1 year high of $120.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.04, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.43. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $111.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $104.01. The firm has a market cap of $51.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.81 and a beta of 0.85.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.04. Crown Castle had a return on equity of 19.20% and a net margin of 17.98%. The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.05 earnings per share. Crown Castle’s revenue was down 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Crown Castle will post 6.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $1.565 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.31%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 195.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CCI has been the subject of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen upped their target price on Crown Castle from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Crown Castle from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Crown Castle from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $126.00 price target (up previously from $124.00) on shares of Crown Castle in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.53.

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.