Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) Shares Up 3.5% – What’s Next?

Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) shot up 3.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $109.08 and last traded at $107.40. 2,985,973 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 4% from the average session volume of 2,862,091 shares. The stock had previously closed at $103.81.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Crown Castle from $102.00 to $99.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Moffett Nathanson reduced their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $127.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $121.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Crown Castle to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $110.00.

Crown Castle Stock Up 3.1 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $95.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $100.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.97 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $1.565 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.85%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is -69.71%.

Institutional Trading of Crown Castle

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Crown Castle in the 4th quarter worth approximately $561,714,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,499,455 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,672,451,000 after acquiring an additional 5,934,615 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 23.8% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 17,528,597 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,079,417,000 after acquiring an additional 3,371,186 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 37.3% during the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 5,793,842 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $525,849,000 after acquiring an additional 1,573,043 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter valued at $95,167,000. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.