Bank of America Begins Coverage on Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI)

Bank of America began coverage on shares of Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday. The firm issued a neutral rating and a $110.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the company. JMP Securities assumed coverage on Crown Castle in a research note on Monday, January 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank cut their target price on Crown Castle from $102.00 to $99.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Crown Castle from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Monday. Barclays increased their price objective on Crown Castle from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Citizens Jmp upgraded Crown Castle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Crown Castle presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $110.00.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CCI opened at $104.59 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $92.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $101.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.09 and a beta of 0.89. Crown Castle has a one year low of $84.20 and a one year high of $120.92.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $1.565 dividend. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is -69.71%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Crown Castle

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versor Investments LP boosted its holdings in Crown Castle by 120.0% during the fourth quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 8,447 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $767,000 after buying an additional 4,608 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Crown Castle by 29.4% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,243,722 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $113,465,000 after buying an additional 282,821 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter worth about $1,231,000. Avanza Fonder AB bought a new position in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter worth about $3,083,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 203,442 shares during the last quarter. 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.