Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $93.53, but opened at $100.42. Crown Castle shares last traded at $102.35, with a volume of 2,176,067 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CCI. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Crown Castle from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $128.00 to $106.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Crown Castle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Barclays raised shares of Crown Castle from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $117.00 to $104.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $109.00.

Crown Castle Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $44.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.48 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $90.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $101.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $1.565 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.09%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 221.99%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Twin Tree Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in Crown Castle by 300.0% in the 4th quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 400 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in Crown Castle in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Investors Research Corp increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 57.2% during the third quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 423 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.