Short Interest in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) Decreases By 19.6%

Key Points

• Crown Castle Inc. experienced a significant decline in short interest of 19.6% in August, dropping from 4,690,000 shares to 3,770,000 shares.
• Analysts have given Crown Castle a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with a target price averaging $116.41 after several upgrades from different firms.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.0625 per share, yielding 4.5%, to be paid on September 30th to investors of record by September 15th.

Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) saw a significant drop in short interest in August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totaling 3,770,000 shares, a drop of 19.6% from the July 31st total of 4,690,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,120,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.2 days. Based on an average trading volume of 3,120,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.2 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Crown Castle

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its position in Crown Castle by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 37,108 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,819,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares during the last quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC grew its position in Crown Castle by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 61,822 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $6,351,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in Crown Castle by 11.6% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,108,082 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $113,833,000 after purchasing an additional 115,330 shares during the last quarter. MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH purchased a new stake in Crown Castle during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,125,000. Finally, TT Capital Management LLC grew its position in Crown Castle by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. TT Capital Management LLC now owns 36,491 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,749,000 after purchasing an additional 1,109 shares during the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Crown Castle Price Performance

Shares of Crown Castle stock traded down $0.16 during trading on Friday, hitting $95.42. The stock had a trading volume of 2,929,959 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,650,974. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $102.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $101.45. The stock has a market cap of $41.55 billion, a PE ratio of -8.94, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.92. Crown Castle has a 12 month low of $84.20 and a 12 month high of $120.92.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.02. Crown Castle had a negative net margin of 85.54% and a negative return on equity of 619.62%. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.62 EPS. The business's revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Crown Castle has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.140-4.250 EPS. Analysts expect that Crown Castle will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $1.0625 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Crown Castle's payout ratio is presently -39.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on CCI. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $121.00 to $119.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 18th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and set a $125.00 price objective on shares of Crown Castle in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $124.00 price objective (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Crown Castle in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Crown Castle from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $115.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $116.41.

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.