Short Interest in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) Grows By 16.3%

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

Institutional Trading of Crown Castle

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CCI. Twin Tree Management LP bought a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in Crown Castle during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Crown Castle in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Investors Research Corp lifted its position in shares of 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. JMP Securities began coverage on Crown Castle in a report on Monday, January 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Crown Castle from $116.00 to $96.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $121.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $102.00 to $99.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Crown Castle from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday. Eleven 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $110.00.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

NYSE CCI traded up $0.41 on Thursday, reaching $104.76. The stock had a trading volume of 2,248,428 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,603,865. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The company has a market cap of $45.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.12 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $91.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $101.23. Crown Castle has a 1-year low of $84.20 and a 1-year high of $120.92.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.98%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is -69.71%.

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.