Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) Short Interest Up 12.9% in July

Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,500,000 shares, a growth of 12.9% from the June 30th total of 4,870,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,720,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on CCI shares. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Crown Castle in a report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 price target for the company. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $126.00 price target (up previously from $124.00) on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Friday, June 14th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Crown Castle from $115.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th. Bank of America upped their price target on Crown Castle from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Crown Castle from $111.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Crown Castle presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $114.88.

Insider Transactions at Crown Castle

In other news, COO Michael Joseph Kavanagh sold 10,883 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 75,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,792,172.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Crown Castle

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Crown Castle in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Rational Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Crown Castle in the first quarter worth $27,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Crown Castle in the first quarter worth $27,000. Gables Capital Management Inc. increased its position 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 worth $30,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the period. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

Shares of CCI stock traded up $0.61 on Monday, hitting $108.13. 2,155,602 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,771,258. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.04, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The company has a market capitalization of $46.98 billion, a PE ratio of 33.74 and a beta of 0.83. Crown Castle has a 1-year low of $84.72 and a 1-year high of $119.50. The company’s fifty day moving average is $99.92 and its 200 day moving average is $102.73.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.04. Crown Castle had a return on equity of 19.20% and a net margin of 17.98%. The business had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.05 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Crown Castle will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a $1.565 dividend. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 195.63%.

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.