Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Hold Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Saturday morning.

CCI has been the topic of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Crown Castle from $121.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Crown Castle to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group raised shares of Crown Castle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Bank of America began coverage on Crown Castle in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $110.00 target price for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $109.88.

Crown Castle Price Performance

CCI opened at $103.51 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.54. Crown Castle has a 1-year low of $84.20 and a 1-year high of $120.92. The company has a 50-day moving average of $97.73 and a 200-day moving average of $98.68. The company has a market capitalization of $45.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.71 and a beta of 0.93.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $1.565 per share. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.05%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is currently -69.71%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Crown Castle

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Versor Investments LP increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 120.0% in the 4th quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 8,447 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $767,000 after purchasing an additional 4,608 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 29.4% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,243,722 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $113,465,000 after purchasing an additional 282,821 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,231,000. Avanza Fonder AB bought a new position in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,083,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 144,766 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $13,139,000 after acquiring an additional 4,772 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.