BMO Capital Markets Issues Positive Forecast for Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) Stock Price

Key Points

• BMO Capital Markets raised its target on Crown Castle to $100 and maintained an "outperform" rating, implying roughly a 12.7% upside from the prior close.
• The consensus across analysts is a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $98.86, reflecting a mix of Buy and Hold revisions from other firms.
• Two insiders recently sold shares while institutional ownership is very high (~90.8%), with major funds like Vanguard and Cohen & Steers increasing their stakes.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) had its target price increased by equities research analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $91.00 to $100.00 in a report issued on Friday,MarketScreener reports. The firm currently has an "outperform" rating on the real estate investment trust's stock. BMO Capital Markets' price objective would indicate a potential upside of 12.71% from the company's previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $105.00 to $95.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on Crown Castle from $112.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 12th. HSBC cut their price objective on Crown Castle from $107.00 to $88.40 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Crown Castle from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Crown Castle from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Crown Castle currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $98.86.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

Shares of CCI stock opened at $88.72 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $38.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 87.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.94. Crown Castle has a one year low of $75.96 and a one year high of $115.76. The company's 50-day moving average is $86.05 and its 200 day moving average is $88.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crown Castle

In related news, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,000 shares of Crown Castle stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.49, for a total transaction of $262,470.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 5,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $507,442. This trade represents a 34.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 4,650 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.34, for a total value of $401,481.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 25,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,174,300.22. This represents a 15.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,769,393 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $6,200,406,000 after acquiring an additional 386,733 shares during the period. Cohen & Steers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 39,790,292 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,536,214,000 after purchasing an additional 3,953,685 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Crown Castle by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,239,559 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,976,430,000 after purchasing an additional 511,018 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Crown Castle by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,986,852 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,243,012,000 after purchasing an additional 380,419 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Crown Castle by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,027,749 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,156,972,000 after purchasing an additional 184,533 shares during the period. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Crown Castle

Crown Castle is a U.S.-focused communications infrastructure company organized as a real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns, operates and leases shared wireless infrastructure. Its primary business consists of providing tower-based site leases, small cell networks and fiber solutions that support mobile voice and data transmission for wireless carriers, cable companies and other enterprise customers. The company's assets are positioned to enable network coverage and capacity, including the densification projects associated with 4G LTE and 5G deployments.

Its product and service offerings include ground-based tower sites that host multiple wireless operators, distributed small cell nodes and associated fiber backhaul used to connect sites into carrier networks, and site development and maintenance services.

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