Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,880,000 shares, a decrease of 11.3% from the July 15th total of 5,500,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,550,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Crown Castle Stock Down 0.3 %

Crown Castle stock traded down $0.35 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $109.49. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,542,432 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,718,548. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $103.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $102.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.04, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.43. Crown Castle has a 52-week low of $84.72 and a 52-week high of $119.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.40 and a beta of 0.83.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.62 billion. Crown Castle had a return on equity of 19.20% and a net margin of 17.98%. The company’s revenue was down 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.05 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Crown Castle will post 6.64 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.565 per share. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 195.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CCI has been the topic of several analyst reports. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Crown Castle from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Crown Castle from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Crown Castle in a research report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on Crown Castle from $111.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Crown Castle from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.53.

Insider Transactions at Crown Castle

In other news, COO Michael Joseph Kavanagh sold 10,883 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.72, for a total transaction of $1,128,784.76. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 75,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,792,172.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Crown Castle

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Rational Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Crown Castle in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Crown Castle in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Asset Dedication LLC grew its holdings in Crown Castle by 159.0% in the second quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 272 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Finally, Gables Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Crown Castle by 164.0% in the fourth quarter. Gables Capital Management Inc. now owns 264 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.