Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) Cut to Hold at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $84.00 price target on the real estate investment trust’s stock, down from their prior price target of $127.00.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $127.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Crown Castle from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Barclays upped their target price on Crown Castle from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group lifted their price target on Crown Castle from $103.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Crown Castle from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Crown Castle has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.93.

Crown Castle Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE:CCI opened at $89.99 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $100.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $106.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.91 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. Crown Castle has a 1-year low of $88.65 and a 1-year high of $120.92.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($1.03). The business had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. Crown Castle had a net margin of 18.59% and a return on equity of 20.98%. Crown Castle’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.77 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Crown Castle will post 6.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $1.565 per share. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.96%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is 221.99%.

Institutional Trading of Crown Castle

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CCI. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Asset Dedication LLC increased its stake in Crown Castle by 159.0% during the second quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 272 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its holdings in Crown Castle by 107.9% in the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 262 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in Crown Castle by 3,672.7% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 415 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $47,000. 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.