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

Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) shares gapped up before the market opened 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 trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on CCI shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Crown Castle from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. 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. Moffett Nathanson lowered their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $127.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group increased their price target on Crown Castle from $103.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Crown Castle from $118.00 to $102.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $110.13.

Crown Castle Stock Up 3.9 %

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $95.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market cap of $39.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.63 and a beta of 0.87.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The business 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.81%. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is currently 221.99%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Crown Castle

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CCI. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 29.4% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,243,722 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $113,465,000 after purchasing an additional 282,821 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 24.7% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 157,895 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $17,476,000 after buying an additional 31,319 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,231,000. Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,083,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 4.2% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,088,017 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $603,592,000 after purchasing an additional 203,442 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Crown Castle Company Profile

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.