Crown Castle International Corporation (NYSE:CCI) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Macquarie

Crown Castle International Corporation (NYSE:CCI)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by research analysts at Macquarie in a research report issued on Wednesday, July 19th. They currently have a $107.00 price target on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Macquarie’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 6.38% from the company’s previous close.

The analysts wrote, “We remain constructive on Crown’s long-term position to capitalize on the growth of small cells and a fiber footprint that will span 60k+ miles. Upcoming network investments and a focus on densification bode well for Crown, particularly with buildouts slated for ‘18/’19. However, much of the growth will be long-tailed and fiber portfolios carry different profiles. In addition, leverage of 5.9x is above its 4-5x target leaving little room for financial flexibility. Our target goes slightly lower to US$107 based on 20x ‘18E AFFO/sh to reflect revised Wilcon estimates now in guidance. Impact The US$7.1bn Lightower deal doubles Crown’s fiber footprint in top metro markets. With 32k+ miles of fiber in top cities including Boston, NYC, and Philadelphia as well as minimal overlap with Crown’s current footprint, the combined company will own/have rights to 60k+ miles of fiber. Crown’s fiber footprint will cover the top 10 markets and 23 out of the top 25 metro markets. This all-cash deal values Lightower at 13.5x adj. EBITDA (vs. Sunesys at ~16x and CCI currently trading at ~20x) and should close by year-end ’17. Within its first full year of operation, Lightower is projected to contribute: 1) US$850- 870m in site rental revenues; 2) US$163-213m in net income; 3) US$510-530m in adj. EBITDA; and 4) US$465-485m in AFFO before financing costs. Management also expects to increase the dividend by US$0.15-0.20/sh p.a; our US$107 target implies a ~4% yield with the proposed increase. The long-term dividend growth target is now 7-8% from 6-7% previously.””

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on CCI. Deutsche Bank AG increased their price objective on shares of Crown Castle International Corporation from $108.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 9th. Barclays PLC cut their price objective on shares of Crown Castle International Corporation from $101.00 to $95.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 22nd. BidaskClub lowered shares of Crown Castle International Corporation from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 10th. Guggenheim upgraded shares of Crown Castle International Corporation from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $91.00 to $101.00 in a report on Monday, April 10th. Finally, Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Crown Castle International Corporation from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $114.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $104.95.

Shares of Crown Castle International Corporation (CCI) traded down 0.07% during trading on Wednesday, reaching $100.51. 204,210 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged. Crown Castle International Corporation has a 52-week low of $79.38 and a 52-week high of $104.68. The company has a market capitalization of $36.80 billion, a PE ratio of 80.22 and a beta of 0.20. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $99.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $95.13.

Crown Castle International Corporation (NYSE:CCI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 19th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. Crown Castle International Corporation had a net margin of 11.14% and a return on equity of 6.21%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.05 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Crown Castle International Corporation will post $1.22 earnings per share for the current year.

In related news, Director Robert F. Mckenzie sold 1,500 shares of Crown Castle International Corporation stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.48, for a total transaction of $144,720.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 28,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,793,385.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director J Landis Martin purchased 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 28th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $100.64 per share, for a total transaction of $3,019,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 99,335 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,997,074.40. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.41% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. American Assets Capital Advisers increased its position in shares of Crown Castle International Corporation by 61.8% in the second quarter. American Assets Capital Advisers now owns 128,421 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $12,846,000 after buying an additional 49,068 shares during the period. First Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Crown Castle International Corporation by 24.7% in the second quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 18,075 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,811,000 after buying an additional 3,584 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its position in Crown Castle International Corporation by 1.9% in the second quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 177,509 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $17,783,000 after buying an additional 3,230 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in Crown Castle International Corporation by 74.7% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 8,044 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $806,000 after buying an additional 3,439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smithfield Trust Co. increased its position in Crown Castle International Corporation by 21.5% in the second quarter. Smithfield Trust Co. now owns 2,359 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $236,000 after buying an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.12% of the company’s stock.

About Crown Castle International Corporation

Castle International Corp. (CCIC) is a real estate investment trust (REIT) company. The Company owns, operates and leases shared wireless infrastructure, including towers and other structures, such as rooftops (towers), and to a lesser extent, distributed antenna systems (DAS), a type of small cell network (small cells), and interests in land under third party towers in various forms (third party land interests).