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

Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) was the recipient of 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. Approximately 1.6% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,190,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.2 days.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CCI traded down $0.42 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $104.52. 6,221,308 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,609,555. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $91.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $101.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.07 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.54. Crown Castle has a one year low of $84.20 and a one year high of $120.92.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $1.565 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.99%. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is -69.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on CCI shares. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Crown Castle from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $105.00 in a report on Monday. Scotiabank cut their target price on Crown Castle from $102.00 to $99.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Raymond James raised Crown Castle from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $128.00 to $122.00 in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Crown Castle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $127.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp raised Crown Castle from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $120.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Crown Castle presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $110.29.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Accurate Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Crown Castle by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,429 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $205,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,137 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $103,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,373 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $216,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,475 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,041,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cidel Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,285 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $207,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

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.