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

Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $111.5882.

CCI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research upgraded Crown Castle from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $114.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Crown Castle from $114.00 to $107.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $101.00 price objective (down previously from $104.00) on shares of Crown Castle in a research report on Monday. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Crown Castle in a research report on Monday. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $124.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 16th.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

CCI opened at $88.53 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $38.55 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $93.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $98.40. Crown Castle has a twelve month low of $84.20 and a twelve month high of $115.76.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.05 billion. Crown Castle had a negative net margin of 95.37% and a negative return on equity of 619.62%. Crown Castle’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. Crown Castle has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.230-4.350 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Crown Castle will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.0625 per share. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is currently -39.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Daniel K. Schlanger sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.08, for a total value of $2,942,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 65,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,431,203.68. This trade represents a 31.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Crown Castle

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Centerpoint Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Winnow Wealth LLC bought a new position in Crown Castle in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Crown Castle in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. 90.77% of the stock is 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.