Brokerages Set Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) Price Target at $114.21

Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $113.53.

A number of research firms have issued reports on CCI. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $120.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th. Argus cut shares of Crown Castle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Raymond James restated 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. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $133.00 to $118.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $110.00 to $109.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd.

Crown Castle Stock Down 0.7 %

Crown Castle stock opened at $95.28 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $41.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.83. Crown Castle has a 1-year low of $84.72 and a 1-year high of $119.50. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $98.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $104.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.73.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). The business had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.63 billion. Crown Castle had a return on equity of 21.30% and a net margin of 20.32%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.91 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Crown Castle will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were given a $1.565 dividend. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.57%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 195.63%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CCI. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its position in Crown Castle by 93.5% in the third quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 17,099 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,574,000 after purchasing an additional 8,263 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 13.6% during the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 41,233 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,795,000 after buying an additional 4,937 shares in the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 62.8% during the third quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 7,682 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $707,000 after buying an additional 2,964 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 18.7% during the third quarter. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC now owns 11,675 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,074,000 after buying an additional 1,840 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 37.7% during the third quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 44,167 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,065,000 after buying an additional 12,092 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.