Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $88.49, but opened at $91.05. Crown Castle shares last traded at $91.05, with a volume of 364,459 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CCI. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Crown Castle from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Crown Castle from $127.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays upgraded Crown Castle from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $117.00 to $104.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. JMP Securities initiated coverage on shares of Crown Castle in a research report on Monday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Crown Castle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $127.00 to $84.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $110.13.

Crown Castle Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $95.29 and a 200 day moving average of $105.41. The stock has a market cap of $39.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.63 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $1.565 per share. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is 221.99%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CCI. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Crown Castle during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its holdings in Crown Castle by 107.9% during the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 262 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. FNY Investment Advisers LLC raised its position in Crown Castle by 300.0% during the fourth quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 400 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Crown Castle in the third quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in Crown Castle in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

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.