Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) Reaches New 52-Week High at $119.98

Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $119.98 and last traded at $119.96, with a volume of 1633540 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $117.54.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on CCI shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Crown Castle from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Crown Castle in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 price target for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Crown Castle from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Bank of America upped their target price on Crown Castle from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Crown Castle from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $113.53.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $108.87 and a 200-day moving average of $103.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.74 billion, a PE ratio of 37.03 and a beta of 0.85.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.62 billion. Crown Castle had a net margin of 17.98% and a return on equity of 19.20%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.05 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.64 earnings per share 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 of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.26%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 195.63%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Michael Joseph Kavanagh sold 10,883 shares of Crown Castle stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.72, for a total transaction of $1,128,784.76. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 75,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,792,172.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter worth about $581,503,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 4,097.8% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 2,524,226 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $246,617,000 after buying an additional 2,464,094 shares during the period. M&G Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the 1st quarter worth $221,573,000. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC purchased a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the 4th quarter worth about $201,582,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Crown Castle by 18,200.7% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,651,456 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $190,231,000 after purchasing an additional 1,642,432 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.