Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the nineteen research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have assigned a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $110.47.

CCI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $109.00 to $107.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $99.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $116.00 to $96.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Wolfe Research raised shares of Crown Castle from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $121.00 to $115.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CCI. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 7.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 5,174,920 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $613,900,000 after buying an additional 348,296 shares during the period. Bard Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in Crown Castle by 6.6% during the third quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. now owns 10,080 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,196,000 after purchasing an additional 620 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Crown Castle by 111.7% during the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 1,397 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $166,000 after purchasing an additional 737 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Crown Castle by 16.7% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,374 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $400,000 after purchasing an additional 484 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Crown Castle during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,038,000. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Crown Castle Price Performance

Shares of CCI traded up $2.93 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $103.85. 2,401,871 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,879,923. Crown Castle has a one year low of $84.20 and a one year high of $120.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. The business has a 50-day moving average of $99.51 and a 200 day moving average of $98.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.83 and a beta of 0.93.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $1.565 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.03%. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio is currently -69.71%.

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.