Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) Shares Gap Up - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Crown Castle shares jumped 13.0%, opening at $74.32 after previously closing at $68.89 and later trading near $76.28.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive overall, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.07, although some firms recently lowered targets or maintained cautious ratings.
• The company reported quarterly EPS of $0.69, beating estimates of $0.51, and announced a $1.0625 quarterly dividend, equal to a 5.5% annualized yield; however, revenue declined 4.9% year over year and the payout ratio is elevated at 215.74%.

Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Friday. The stock had previously closed at $68.89, but opened at $74.32. Crown Castle shares last traded at $76.2840, with a volume of 2,035,627 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating on shares of Crown Castle in a research report on Friday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and set a $80.00 price target (down from $85.00) on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Monday, September 14th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Crown Castle from $94.00 to $92.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $85.00 target price on Crown Castle in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Crown Castle has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $94.07.

Crown Castle Trading Up 13.0%

The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $73.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.56. The firm has a market cap of $33.11 billion, a PE ratio of 39.40, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.94.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.18. Crown Castle had a negative return on equity of 51.60% and a net margin of 20.71%.The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $995.05 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.67 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Crown Castle has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.530-4.650 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were given a dividend of $1.0625 per share. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.5%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 15th. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio is currently 215.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crown Castle

In related news, VP Robert Collins sold 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.89, for a total value of $113,835.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 5,113 shares in the company, valued at approximately $388,025.57. The trade was a 22.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Crown Castle

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Crown Castle by 55.6% during the first quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC now owns 375 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Pingora Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Crown Castle during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Reflection Asset Management bought a new stake in Crown Castle in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Crown Castle Company Profile

Crown Castle Inc NYSE: CCI is a communications infrastructure company that owns, operates and leases wireless communications assets in the United States. Its infrastructure helps wireless carriers, government agencies and other customers expand network coverage and capacity for voice, data and other wireless services.

The company's portfolio includes cell towers and fiber-based infrastructure. Crown Castle provides space on its towers for wireless equipment and offers fiber solutions that support small-cell networks, distributed antenna systems and other high-capacity communications applications.

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