Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) Given Equal Weight Rating at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed their equal weight rating on shares of Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) in a report released on Monday morning, MarketBeat reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has a $85.00 target price on the real estate investment trust’s stock, down from their previous target price of $90.00.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $112.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 12th. HSBC lowered their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $107.00 to $88.40 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Crown Castle from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Crown Castle from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Crown Castle currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $99.86.

Crown Castle Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:CCI opened at $81.36 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $87.14 and a 200 day moving average of $90.25. The company has a market cap of $35.48 billion, a PE ratio of 80.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 0.96. Crown Castle has a 12-month low of $77.01 and a 12-month high of $115.76.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.0625 per share. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 420.79%.

Insider Activity at Crown Castle

In related news, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 4,650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.34, for a total value of $401,481.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 25,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,174,300.22. The trade was a 15.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.49, for a total transaction of $262,470.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 5,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $507,442. This trade represents a 34.09% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Crown Castle

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in Crown Castle during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Wiser Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in Crown Castle during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp purchased a new stake in Crown Castle during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Crown Castle

Crown Castle is a U.S.-focused communications infrastructure company organized as a real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns, operates and leases shared wireless infrastructure. Its primary business consists of providing tower-based site leases, small cell networks and fiber solutions that support mobile voice and data transmission for wireless carriers, cable companies and other enterprise customers. The company’s assets are positioned to enable network coverage and capacity, including the densification projects associated with 4G LTE and 5G deployments.

Its product and service offerings include ground-based tower sites that host multiple wireless operators, distributed small cell nodes and associated fiber backhaul used to connect sites into carrier networks, and site development and maintenance services.