Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts assign Crown Castle a consensus rating of Moderate Buy from 21 firms (10 Hold, 9 Buy, 2 Strong Buy) with an average 1‑year target of $98.13.
• The company pays a quarterly dividend of $1.0625 (annualized $4.25) for a 5.0% yield420.79%, which may raise sustainability risks.
• Shares opened at $85.73 and trade in a 12‑month range of $75.96–$115.76; Crown Castle has a market cap of $37.38B and a high trailing P/E of 84.88, implying relatively rich valuation.

Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-one research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have given a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $98.1263.

CCI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Crown Castle from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Crown Castle from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. New Street Research lowered Crown Castle from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Crown Castle from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on Crown Castle from $110.00 to $106.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 5th.

Crown Castle Price Performance

NYSE:CCI opened at $85.73 on Thursday. Crown Castle has a 12-month low of $75.96 and a 12-month high of $115.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.88, a P/E/G ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $85.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $89.22.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were given a dividend of $1.0625 per share. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. Crown Castle's payout ratio is 420.79%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Crown Castle news, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 5,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $507,442. The trade was a 34.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, 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 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 25,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,174,300.22. This trade represents a 15.59% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wiser Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the third quarter valued at $29,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the third quarter valued at $31,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 269.9% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 381 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Crown Castle Company Profile

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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