Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) Earns Outperform Rating from Analysts at JMP Securities

JMP Securities started coverage on shares of Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) in a report published on Monday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage issued an outperform rating and a $115.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

CCI has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Crown Castle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $127.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Barclays raised shares of Crown Castle from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $117.00 to $104.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $118.00 to $102.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Moffett Nathanson dropped their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $127.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Crown Castle from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $110.13.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CCI opened at $88.02 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $94.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $105.24. Crown Castle has a 52-week low of $84.20 and a 52-week high of $120.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.21 and a beta of 0.87.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $1.565 dividend. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is 221.99%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Crown Castle

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CCI. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 23.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 17,528,597 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,079,417,000 after buying an additional 3,371,186 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Crown Castle by 433.8% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,968,959 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $470,838,000 after purchasing an additional 3,225,460 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Crown Castle by 13,271.6% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 973,185 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $115,449,000 after purchasing an additional 965,907 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 20,875,581 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,476,470,000 after buying an additional 747,390 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in Crown Castle by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 3,166,236 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $375,610,000 after buying an additional 642,010 shares during the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Crown Castle

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.