Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) Upgraded at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research report report published on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $105.00 price target on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their prior price target of $85.00.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on CCI. Citigroup upped their target price on Crown Castle from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Crown Castle from $116.00 to $96.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays raised shares of Crown Castle from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $117.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Moffett Nathanson cut their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $127.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank decreased 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. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $110.29.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

CCI opened at $104.52 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $91.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $101.23. The company has a market cap of $45.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.07 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. Crown Castle has a 52-week low of $84.20 and a 52-week high of $120.92.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.565 per share. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -69.71%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CCI. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $561,714,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Crown Castle by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,499,455 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,672,451,000 after buying an additional 5,934,615 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Crown Castle by 23.8% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 17,528,597 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,079,417,000 after acquiring an additional 3,371,186 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 433.8% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,968,959 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $470,838,000 after acquiring an additional 3,225,460 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 37.3% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 5,793,842 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $525,849,000 after acquiring an additional 1,573,043 shares during the last quarter. 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.