Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI – Get Rating) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $158.14.

A number of research firms have commented on CCI. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $177.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 21st. Credit Suisse Group reduced their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $213.00 to $162.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 21st. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Crown Castle in a research report on Wednesday, October 12th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $175.00 to $135.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 18th. Finally, Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $195.00 to $149.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 21st.

Crown Castle Price Performance

NYSE:CCI opened at $145.24 on Friday. Crown Castle has a 1-year low of $121.71 and a 1-year high of $199.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.69. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $140.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $152.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.90 billion, a PE ratio of 39.04 and a beta of 0.60.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.97. Crown Castle had a net margin of 23.47% and a return on equity of 20.28%. The business had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.73 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.77 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Crown Castle will post 7.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Crown Castle

In related news, Director Kevin A. Stephens purchased 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 24th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $123.50 per share, with a total value of $247,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 12,703 shares in the company, valued at $1,568,820.50. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Activest Wealth Management raised its stake in Crown Castle by 847.4% in the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 180 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Almanack Investment Partners LLC. acquired a new position in Crown Castle during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Crown Castle by 210.8% during the second quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 230 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Crown Castle by 41.5% during the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 307 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.27% of the company’s stock.

Crown Castle Company Profile

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Crown Castle owns, operates and leases more than 40,000 cell towers and approximately 80,000 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.