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

Key Points

• Crown Castle Inc. has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from twenty covering research firms, with an average 1-year target price of $116.18.
• The company recently reported a $1.02 EPS for the quarter, surpassing expectations, but experienced a 4.2% year-over-year revenue decline.
• Crown Castle also announced a quarterly dividend of $1.0625 per share, representing a 4.0% yield, though the payout ratio is currently negative.

Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $116.18.

CCI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America assumed coverage on Crown Castle in a research report on Monday, May 19th. They set a "buy" rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Crown Castle from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group raised their price target on Crown Castle from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Crown Castle from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Crown Castle from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th.

Crown Castle Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE CCI traded up $1.80 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $106.89. The company had a trading volume of 3,429,548 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,073,515. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.55 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.89. Crown Castle has a 1-year low of $84.20 and a 1-year high of $120.92. The firm's 50 day moving average is $102.78 and its 200-day moving average is $99.29.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.02. Crown Castle had a negative return on equity of 619.62% and a negative net margin of 85.54%. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.62 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Crown Castle will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a $1.0625 dividend. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. Crown Castle's payout ratio is currently -39.83%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Crown Castle

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CCI. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Centerpoint Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Crown Castle in the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Crown Castle in the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Crown Castle in the first 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.