Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) Sets New 12-Month Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from $106.00 to $98.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Crown Castle traded as low as $73.52 and last traded at $75.0030, with a volume of 608717 shares. The stock had previously closed at $74.90.

CCI has been the topic of several other reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Crown Castle in a research note on Friday, June 26th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Crown Castle from $84.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Crown Castle in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered Crown Castle from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.92.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. United Asset Strategies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 4,931 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $438,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Binnacle Investments Inc grew its position in shares of Crown Castle by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc now owns 1,295 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $125,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 1.4% in the first quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 9,305 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $757,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. Applied Capital LLC FL increased its position in shares of Crown Castle by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Applied Capital LLC FL now owns 15,269 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,357,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the period. Finally, Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Crown Castle by 55.6% during the first quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC now owns 375 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $84.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.95.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were given a dividend of $1.0625 per share. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 215.74%.

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.