Short Interest in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) Increases By 20.2%

Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,500,000 shares, an increase of 20.2% from the February 28th total of 7,070,000 shares. Approximately 2.0% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 3,510,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days.

Institutional Trading of Crown Castle

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CCI. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the 4th quarter worth about $561,714,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Crown Castle by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,499,455 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,672,451,000 after purchasing an additional 5,934,615 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 23.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 17,528,597 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,079,417,000 after acquiring an additional 3,371,186 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in Crown Castle by 37.3% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 5,793,842 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $525,849,000 after purchasing an additional 1,573,043 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter worth approximately $95,167,000. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CCI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Crown Castle in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. UBS Group upgraded Crown Castle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Thursday, March 20th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $110.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Crown Castle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $127.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $110.00.

Crown Castle Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE:CCI traded up $1.59 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $105.40. 2,321,669 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,858,903. The company’s 50 day moving average is $95.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $100.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. The company has a market capitalization of $45.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.38 and a beta of 0.89. Crown Castle has a twelve month low of $84.20 and a twelve month high of $120.92.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $1.565 dividend. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.94%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is currently -69.71%.

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.