Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Scotiabank Analyst Says

Key Points

• Scotiabank has increased its price target for Crown Castle from $109.00 to $114.00, indicating a potential upside of 1.89% from the current stock price.
• Analyst ratings on Crown Castle vary, with one sell, nine hold, eight buy, and three strong buy ratings, culminating in an average rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Crown Castle's recent quarterly earnings report showed earnings per share of $1.02, surpassing the consensus estimate by $0.02, despite a 4.2% revenue decline from the previous year.
• Insider selling activity includes significant transactions by VP Robert Sean Collins and CEO Daniel K. Schlanger, both reducing their stakes in the company.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) had its price target upped by equities researchers at Scotiabank from $109.00 to $114.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "sector perform" rating on the real estate investment trust's stock. Scotiabank's target price points to a potential upside of 1.89% from the stock's current price.

CCI has been the subject of several other research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Crown Castle from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup upped their price target on Crown Castle from $108.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen lowered Crown Castle from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. KeyCorp upped their price target on Crown Castle from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Crown Castle from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the company from $105.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Crown Castle currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $115.94.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

NYSE CCI traded down $2.03 on Friday, reaching $111.89. 1,838,447 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,227,497. Crown Castle has a 12 month low of $84.20 and a 12 month high of $120.92. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $102.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $98.31. The company has a market cap of $48.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.49, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.88.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. Crown Castle had a negative return on equity of 300.46% and a negative net margin of 85.54%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.62 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Crown Castle will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crown Castle

In other Crown Castle news, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,600 shares of Crown Castle stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 6,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $689,944.80. The trade was a 35.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Daniel K. Schlanger sold 20,000 shares of Crown Castle stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.38, for a total transaction of $2,127,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,762,542.98. The trade was a 15.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 31,600 shares of company stock valued at $3,362,752. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Crown Castle

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA boosted its position in Crown Castle by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 3,532 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $368,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of Crown Castle by 18.9% during the 1st quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 672 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC grew its position in shares of Crown Castle by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 6,393 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $666,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Crown Castle by 36.6% during the 1st quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 448 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of Crown Castle by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 37,357 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,894,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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