UBS Group Boosts Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) Price Target to $118.00

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) had its target price hoisted by UBS Group from $103.00 to $118.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $127.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $112.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Crown Castle from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Crown Castle from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $116.47.

Crown Castle Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of CCI stock opened at $112.38 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.04. Crown Castle has a 12-month low of $84.72 and a 12-month high of $120.92. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $114.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $105.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.12 and a beta of 0.85.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($1.03). The company had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. Crown Castle had a net margin of 17.98% and a return on equity of 19.20%. Crown Castle’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.77 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Crown Castle will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a $1.565 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.57%. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is currently 195.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Michael Joseph Kavanagh sold 10,883 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.72, for a total value of $1,128,784.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 75,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,792,172.44. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.39% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CCI. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. boosted its position in Crown Castle by 13.0% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 783 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 2.4% during the second quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 3,869 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $376,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 2,262 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $221,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. True North Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Crown Castle by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. True North Advisors LLC now owns 2,345 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $278,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Granite Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 19,439 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,899,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.