Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) Given New $89.00 Price Target at Jefferies Financial Group

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) had its price objective upped by Jefferies Financial Group from $84.00 to $89.00 in a research report released on Tuesday morning,MarketScreener reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a hold rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on CCI. Citigroup reduced their target price on Crown Castle from $110.00 to $106.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Wolfe Research reduced their target price on Crown Castle from $114.00 to $94.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 6th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $85.00 target price (down from $90.00) on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Raymond James Financial reduced their target price on Crown Castle from $120.00 to $106.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Crown Castle from a “sell (d)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $98.39.

Crown Castle Price Performance

Shares of CCI traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $86.23. 82,928 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,332,146. The company has a market capitalization of $37.63 billion, a PE ratio of 85.53, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $85.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $88.97. Crown Castle has a one year low of $75.96 and a one year high of $115.76.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $1.0625 per share. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 420.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Crown Castle

In related news, VP Robert Sean Collins sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.49, for a total transaction of $262,470.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 5,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $507,442. This trade represents a 34.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Edward B. Adams, Jr. sold 4,650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.34, for a total value of $401,481.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 25,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,174,300.22. This trade represents a 15.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Crown Castle

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CCI. Norges Bank bought a new position in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter valued at about $594,670,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Crown Castle by 124.2% during the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 11,635,117 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,034,013,000 after buying an additional 6,445,237 shares in the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. raised its holdings in Crown Castle by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 39,790,292 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,536,214,000 after buying an additional 3,953,685 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in Crown Castle by 591.8% during the third quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 4,471,120 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $431,418,000 after buying an additional 3,824,778 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Crown Castle by 422.5% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,581,154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $318,258,000 after buying an additional 2,895,756 shares in the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.