Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) Now Covered by Truist Financial

Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) in a research report released on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm issued a hold rating and a $90.00 target price on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Crown Castle from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Zacks Research raised shares of Crown Castle from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Crown Castle in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $97.00 to $91.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Crown Castle from a “sell (d)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $99.34.

Crown Castle Price Performance

Shares of CCI opened at $81.28 on Tuesday. Crown Castle has a one year low of $75.96 and a one year high of $115.76. The company has a market cap of $35.44 billion, a PE ratio of 80.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.96. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $85.91 and a 200-day moving average of $89.58.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a $1.0625 dividend. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is presently 420.79%.

Insider Activity at Crown Castle

In related news, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.49, for a total transaction of $262,470.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 5,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $507,442. This trade represents a 34.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 4,650 shares of Crown Castle stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was 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 $2,174,300.22. This trade represents a 15.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Crown Castle

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