Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) shares gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $93.53, but opened at $100.42. Crown Castle shares last traded at $102.35, with a volume of 2,176,067 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on CCI shares. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $128.00 to $106.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. JMP Securities assumed coverage on Crown Castle in a research note on Monday, January 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. Barclays upgraded Crown Castle from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $117.00 to $104.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on Crown Castle from $102.00 to $99.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Moffett Nathanson dropped their price target on Crown Castle from $127.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $109.00.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $44.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.48 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $90.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $101.55.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $1.565 dividend. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 221.99%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ bought a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $12,637,000. Probity Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Crown Castle by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. Probity Advisors Inc. now owns 4,558 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $414,000 after buying an additional 557 shares during the last quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH raised its holdings in Crown Castle by 811.5% in the 4th quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 49,593 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,501,000 after acquiring an additional 44,152 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in Crown Castle during the 4th quarter worth $45,348,000. Finally, Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.