Crown Castle Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:CCI)

Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Investors bought 162,524 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 8,666% compared to the average daily volume of 1,854 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CCI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Crown Castle from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 price objective on shares of Crown Castle in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Crown Castle from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Crown Castle from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Crown Castle from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $116.41.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Crown Castle

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Crown Castle during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Crown Castle during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Centerpoint Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Crown Castle during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Winnow Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Crown Castle during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Stone House Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Crown Castle during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Crown Castle Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of CCI stock opened at $95.42 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $102.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $101.38. Crown Castle has a 12-month low of $84.20 and a 12-month high of $120.92. The firm has a market cap of $41.55 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.92.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. Crown Castle had a negative return on equity of 619.62% and a negative net margin of 85.54%.The company’s revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. Crown Castle has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.140-4.250 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Crown Castle will post 6.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $1.0625 dividend. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -39.83%.

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.