Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) Upgraded at Sanford C. Bernstein

Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. HSBC dropped their target price on Crown Castle from $107.00 to $88.40 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Raymond James Financial reduced their price target on Crown Castle from $120.00 to $106.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Crown Castle from $110.00 to $106.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Crown Castle from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered Crown Castle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.13.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

NYSE CCI opened at $90.49 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $39.46 billion, a PE ratio of 89.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.96. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $87.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $91.46. Crown Castle has a 52-week low of $77.01 and a 52-week high of $115.76.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.0625 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.7%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is 420.79%.

Insider Activity at Crown Castle

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Crown Castle

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,769,393 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,200,406,000 after buying an additional 386,733 shares during the period. Cohen & Steers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 39,790,292 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,536,214,000 after buying an additional 3,953,685 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Crown Castle by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,239,559 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,976,430,000 after acquiring an additional 511,018 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Crown Castle by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,986,852 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,243,012,000 after acquiring an additional 380,419 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Crown Castle by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,027,749 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,156,972,000 after acquiring an additional 184,533 shares in the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Crown Castle Company Profile

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.