Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) Stock Rated "Moderate Buy" by Wall Street Brokerages

Key Points

• Analyst consensus is “Moderate Buy”: Twenty-one brokerages rate Crown Castle, with an average 12-month price target of $94.07. Ratings include eight buys, two strong buys, ten holds, and one sell.
• Shares have declined substantially: Crown Castle opened at $66.62, near its 12-month low of $66.13 and well below its $100.50 high. Recent broker actions were mixed, with several firms lowering price targets while Barclays raised its target to $86.
• The company offers a 6.4% dividend yield: Crown Castle paid a quarterly dividend of $1.0625, equivalent to $4.25 annually, though its payout ratio is elevated at 215.74%. Institutional investors own 90.77% of the stock.

Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-one research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $94.07.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CCI. Citizens Jmp lowered their price target on Crown Castle from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley set a $85.00 price target on Crown Castle in a research note on Monday, September 21st. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an "underweight" rating and set a $80.00 target price (down from $85.00) on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Monday, September 14th.

Insider Activity at Crown Castle

In related news, VP Robert Collins sold 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.89, for a total transaction of $113,835.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 5,113 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $388,025.57. This trade represents a 22.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Crown Castle

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 19.4% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 36,989 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,801,000 after acquiring an additional 6,020 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,023,394 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,743,562,000 after purchasing an additional 211,633 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Crown Castle by 242.8% during the second quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 473 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Junto Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Crown Castle in the second quarter valued at approximately $68,627,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 5.1% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,325 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $555,000 after buying an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Crown Castle Stock Down 0.7%

Crown Castle stock opened at $66.62 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $28.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.82, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.95. Crown Castle has a 12-month low of $66.13 and a 12-month high of $100.50. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $74.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.33.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $995.05 million. Crown Castle had a net margin of 20.71% and a negative return on equity of 51.60%. Crown Castle's revenue was down 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.67 EPS. Crown Castle has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.530-4.650 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Crown Castle will post 4.38 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were given a $1.0625 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.4%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio is presently 215.74%.

Crown Castle Company Profile

Crown Castle Inc NYSE: CCI is a communications infrastructure company that owns, operates and leases wireless communications assets in the United States. Its infrastructure helps wireless carriers, government agencies and other customers expand network coverage and capacity for voice, data and other wireless services.

The company's portfolio includes cell towers and fiber-based infrastructure. Crown Castle provides space on its towers for wireless equipment and offers fiber solutions that support small-cell networks, distributed antenna systems and other high-capacity communications applications.

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