Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $104.31, but opened at $101.52. Crown Castle shares last traded at $100.73, with a volume of 1,238,166 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Crown Castle in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $102.00 to $99.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Crown Castle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $127.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, UBS Group raised Crown Castle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Crown Castle has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $110.00.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $44.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.83 and a beta of 0.89. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $93.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $100.86.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $1.565 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.20%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is currently -69.71%.

Institutional Trading of Crown Castle

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CCI. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Crown Castle by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,499,455 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,672,451,000 after acquiring an additional 5,934,615 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Crown Castle by 3.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 20,875,581 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,476,470,000 after purchasing an additional 747,390 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Crown Castle by 18.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 20,849,846 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,892,332,000 after purchasing an additional 3,321,249 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Crown Castle by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,333,158 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,119,225,000 after buying an additional 228,007 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Crown Castle during the 4th quarter worth about $561,714,000. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.