Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) Stock

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) had its price target raised by Barclays from $113.00 to $117.00 in a research note published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the real estate investment trust's stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on CCI. JMP Securities increased their price target on Crown Castle from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $120.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $108.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Crown Castle from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $115.47.

Crown Castle Stock Up 3.8%

Shares of NYSE CCI traded up $4.22 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $113.95. 6,095,807 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,649,701. Crown Castle has a 1 year low of $84.20 and a 1 year high of $120.92. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $101.74 and a 200 day moving average of $98.14. The stock has a market cap of $49.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.88.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. Crown Castle had a negative net margin of 85.54% and a negative return on equity of 300.46%. Crown Castle's revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Crown Castle will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a $1.0625 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.73%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio is currently -39.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total value of $850,960.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 20,528 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,183,563.36. This trade represents a 28.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of Crown Castle stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.72, for a total value of $384,192.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 6,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $689,944.80. The trade was a 35.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 31,600 shares of company stock valued at $3,362,752. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Crown Castle

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Crown Castle in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Centerpoint Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the first quarter worth about $26,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Crown Castle in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Crown Castle in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Crown Castle in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. 90.77% 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 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.