Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) Short Interest Up 16.3% in February

by · The Cerbat Gem

Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI – Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 7,070,000 shares, an increase of 16.3% from the February 13th total of 6,080,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,190,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days. Approximately 1.6% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JMP Securities assumed coverage on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Monday, January 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. KeyCorp raised shares of Crown Castle from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $120.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Raymond James raised shares of Crown Castle from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $122.00 in a report on Friday, March 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $121.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $110.29.

Get Our Latest Analysis on CCI

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Twin Tree Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Crown Castle by 300.0% during the 4th quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 400 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Crown Castle during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Investors Research Corp grew its stake in Crown Castle by 57.2% during the 3rd quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 423 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Crown Castle Price Performance

Shares of Crown Castle stock traded down $0.42 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $104.52. The stock had a trading volume of 6,221,308 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,609,555. Crown Castle has a twelve month low of $84.20 and a twelve month high of $120.92. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average is $91.64 and its 200 day moving average is $101.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.43 billion, a PE ratio of 37.07 and a beta of 0.89.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

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

About Crown Castle

(Get Free Report)

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.

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