BMO Capital Markets Issues Positive Forecast for Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) Stock Price

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) had its target price boosted by BMO Capital Markets from $108.00 to $115.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "market perform" rating on the real estate investment trust's stock. BMO Capital Markets' price target would suggest a potential upside of 3.05% from the stock's current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on CCI. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $108.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. New Street Research upgraded shares of Crown Castle from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America initiated coverage on Crown Castle in a research note on Monday, May 19th. They set a "buy" rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Crown Castle from $99.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, JMP Securities increased their price objective on Crown Castle from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Crown Castle has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $115.94.

Crown Castle Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of CCI stock traded down $2.31 during trading on Thursday, hitting $111.60. The company had a trading volume of 3,419,991 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,744,282. Crown Castle has a 52 week low of $84.20 and a 52 week high of $120.92. The stock's 50-day moving average is $102.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $98.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.88.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.62 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Crown Castle will post 6.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crown Castle

In other Crown Castle news, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total transaction of $850,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 20,528 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,183,563.36. This trade represents a 28.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.72, for a total value of $384,192.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 6,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at $689,944.80. This represents a 35.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 31,600 shares of company stock valued at $3,362,752. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Crown Castle

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 781.1% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 25,632 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,326,000 after acquiring an additional 22,723 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 144,766 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $13,139,000 after acquiring an additional 4,772 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the fourth quarter valued at $327,000. Korea Investment CORP increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 71.1% during the fourth quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 296,457 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $26,906,000 after acquiring an additional 123,198 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 685,116 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $61,654,000 after acquiring an additional 40,790 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.77% of the company's stock.

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.