Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) Trading Up 3.5% – Here’s Why

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CCI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised shares of Crown Castle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Crown Castle from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Crown Castle in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $110.00 price target for the company. KeyCorp upgraded Crown Castle from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $120.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price objective 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. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Crown Castle presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $110.00.

Crown Castle Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $95.06 and a 200 day moving average of $100.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.97 and a beta of 0.89.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $1.565 per share. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -69.71%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CCI. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 25.9% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 5,853 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $694,000 after purchasing an additional 1,203 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in Crown Castle by 21.5% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 17,919 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,126,000 after buying an additional 3,176 shares during the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,318,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 2,413.9% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 11,061 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,312,000 after acquiring an additional 10,621 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hilltop Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of Crown Castle by 184.8% during the 3rd quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 16,324 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,936,000 after acquiring an additional 10,593 shares in the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.