Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) Upgraded to "Hold" at StockNews.com

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued on Tuesday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Crown Castle from $116.00 to $96.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $121.00 to $115.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Crown Castle in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $120.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Crown Castle from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $112.41.

Crown Castle Price Performance

Shares of Crown Castle stock traded up $1.53 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $102.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,966,793 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,881,568. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $101.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $97.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.28 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. Crown Castle has a one year low of $84.20 and a one year high of $120.92.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.72 by ($0.62). Crown Castle had a return on equity of 20.98% and a net margin of 18.59%. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.72 earnings per share. Crown Castle's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.38, for a total transaction of $2,127,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 110,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,762,542.98. The trade was a 15.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.72, for a total transaction of $384,192.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $689,944.80. This represents a 35.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,600 shares of company stock valued at $3,362,752 in the last 90 days. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Crown Castle

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Centerpoint Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Crown Castle during the first quarter worth $26,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Crown Castle during the first quarter worth $26,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Crown Castle in the first quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Crown Castle in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.