Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) Short Interest Update

Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,720,000 shares, a growth of 11.7% from the October 15th total of 5,120,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,380,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days. Currently, 1.3% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on CCI shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 17th. Bank of America lowered Crown Castle from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, August 10th. Scotiabank started coverage on Crown Castle in a research note on Friday, October 13th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $110.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $151.00 to $113.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $140.00 to $112.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $125.56.

Crown Castle Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE CCI traded down $0.20 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $103.92. The company had a trading volume of 2,491,797 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,745,656. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $93.89 and its 200 day moving average is $104.55. The company has a market capitalization of $45.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.66. Crown Castle has a fifty-two week low of $84.72 and a fifty-two week high of $153.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.28, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 19th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($1.08). The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Crown Castle had a net margin of 21.93% and a return on equity of 21.85%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.85 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Crown Castle will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $1.565 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 14th. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.02%. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is currently 174.86%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Crown Castle

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Crown Castle by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,375 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Summit Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Crown Castle by 5.5% during the third quarter. Summit Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,638 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $237,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 1.4% in the first quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 5,968 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $799,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its holdings in Crown Castle by 2.4% in the first quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 3,678 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $679,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC raised its holdings in Crown Castle by 3.2% in the first quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 2,815 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $377,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. 90.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Crown Castle

Crown Castle owns, operates and leases more than 40,000 cell towers and approximately 85,000 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.