Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $95.1263.

A number of analysts have commented on the company. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Crown Castle from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Wolfe Research lowered Crown Castle from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on Crown Castle from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 23rd.

Insider Transactions at Crown Castle

In other news, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.89, for a total value of $113,835.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 5,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $388,025.57. This trade represents a 22.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Crown Castle by 7.5% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 16,444 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,714,000 after buying an additional 1,150 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Crown Castle by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 87,611 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $9,000,000 after purchasing an additional 5,630 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 3.7% during the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,655 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $786,000 after buying an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 49.3% during the 2nd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 10,913 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,121,000 after acquiring an additional 3,603 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in Crown Castle by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 4,955 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $509,000 after buying an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Crown Castle Stock Down 0.1%

CCI stock opened at $75.91 on Wednesday. Crown Castle has a twelve month low of $69.72 and a twelve month high of $104.61. The company has a market cap of $32.30 billion, a PE ratio of 38.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.95. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $79.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.50.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.0625 per share. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is 215.74%.

About Crown Castle

Crown Castle is a U.S.-focused communications infrastructure company organized as a real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns, operates and leases shared wireless infrastructure. Its primary business consists of providing tower-based site leases, small cell networks and fiber solutions that support mobile voice and data transmission for wireless carriers, cable companies and other enterprise customers. The company’s assets are positioned to enable network coverage and capacity, including the densification projects associated with 4G LTE and 5G deployments.

Its product and service offerings include ground-based tower sites that host multiple wireless operators, distributed small cell nodes and associated fiber backhaul used to connect sites into carrier networks, and site development and maintenance services.