Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Crown Castle from a “sell” to a “hold,” adding to a mixed but generally constructive analyst backdrop. The stock now carries an average Moderate Buy rating and an average price target of $99.39.
• Crown Castle reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings of $1.02 per share versus $0.47 expected, and revenue of $1.01 billion topped estimates. However, revenue still declined 4.9% year over year.
• Insider selling was notable, with VP Robert Sean Collins and EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. both trimming their holdings. Despite that, institutional investors own 90.77% of the company’s shares.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

CCI has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Crown Castle from $84.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Raymond James Financial increased their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $105.00 to $95.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, HSBC reduced their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $107.00 to $88.40 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $99.39.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

Crown Castle stock opened at $86.67 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $37.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.81, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.93. Crown Castle has a fifty-two week low of $75.96 and a fifty-two week high of $115.76. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $86.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $87.68.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.55. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $995.42 million. Crown Castle had a net margin of 25.13% and a negative return on equity of 64.64%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. Crown Castle has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.380-4.490 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Crown Castle will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Crown Castle

In other news, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.49, for a total value of $262,470.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 5,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $507,442. This trade represents a 34.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 4,650 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.34, for a total transaction of $401,481.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 25,183 shares in the company, valued at $2,174,300.22. This represents a 15.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Crown Castle

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in Crown Castle in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Wiser Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in Crown Castle in the third quarter valued at $29,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp bought a new stake in Crown Castle in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in Crown Castle during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Crown Castle by 55.6% during the 1st quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC now owns 375 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.77% of the company's stock.

About Crown Castle

Crown Castle is a U.S.-focused communications infrastructure company organized as a real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns, operates and leases shared wireless infrastructure. Its primary business consists of providing tower-based site leases, small cell networks and fiber solutions that support mobile voice and data transmission for wireless carriers, cable companies and other enterprise customers. The company's assets are positioned to enable network coverage and capacity, including the densification projects associated with 4G LTE and 5G deployments.

Its product and service offerings include ground-based tower sites that host multiple wireless operators, distributed small cell nodes and associated fiber backhaul used to connect sites into carrier networks, and site development and maintenance services.

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