Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) Receives $114.21 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the fourteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $114.21.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Crown Castle from $126.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Bank of America cut 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. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $126.00 target price (up from $124.00) on shares of Crown Castle in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $133.00 to $118.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th.

Crown Castle Price Performance

Shares of CCI opened at $97.70 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $98.42 and a 200-day moving average of $104.59. Crown Castle has a 52 week low of $84.72 and a 52 week high of $119.50. The firm has a market cap of $42.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.53, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.82. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.92). The company had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.63 billion. Crown Castle had a return on equity of 21.30% and a net margin of 20.32%. Crown Castle’s quarterly revenue was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.91 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Crown Castle will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a $1.565 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.41%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 195.63%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bright Futures Wealth Management LLC. bought a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the 1st quarter worth about $228,000. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. increased its stake in Crown Castle by 33.9% during the first quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 691 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co. raised its holdings in Crown Castle by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 2,259 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $239,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC now owns 115,747 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $12,250,000 after acquiring an additional 3,923 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 12.8% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 950 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $101,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.