Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) Cut to Hold at Wolfe Research

Wolfe Research lowered shares of Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $101.00 target price (down previously from $104.00) on shares of Crown Castle in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $96.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $97.00 to $91.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. HSBC lowered their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $107.00 to $88.40 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on Crown Castle from $120.00 to $106.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Crown Castle has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.61.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

Shares of CCI opened at $81.01 on Friday. Crown Castle has a 52-week low of $77.01 and a 52-week high of $115.76. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $87.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $93.70. The firm has a market cap of $35.28 billion, a PE ratio of 80.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 0.96.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Crown Castle

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CCI. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 10,274 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,055,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 47.8% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 303 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. grew its position in Crown Castle by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 2,046 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $210,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Crown Castle by 24.0% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 599 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in Crown Castle by 74.5% during the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 281 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Crown Castle

Here are the key news stories impacting Crown Castle this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat estimates — Crown Castle topped AFFO/FFO and revenue consensus (FFO $1.12 vs. $1.07 estimate) and flagged stronger services revenue growth, which supports near‑term cash flow expectations. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Earnings and revenue surprises reinforced by multiple outlets reporting beats — these beats likely underpin buying interest and justify the stock strength despite other headwinds. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Management commentary and investor presentation are available (earnings call transcript & slides); investors should review guidance details and management’s outlook for EBITDA, capital allocation and DISH exposure to assess longer‑term impact. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Banks and analysts broadly trimmed price targets this week (examples: Citi to $106 from $110, Goldman to $95 from $105, HSBC to $88.40 from $107, BMO to $91), and several firms moved ratings toward neutral/hold — these cuts signal reduced near‑term upside in street models and are pressuring sentiment. Article Title Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Management issued softer EBITDA guidance and announced job cuts; media noted the stock dipped on that news — weaker guidance increases execution risk and could limit multiple expansion. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: External tenant risk remains (reports discuss DISH-related uncertainty/default risk affecting tower demand), a macro/regulatory or tenant‑specific shock could weigh on occupancy and cash flow. Article Title

Crown Castle Company Profile

Crown Castle is a U.S.-focused communications infrastructure company organized as a real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns, operates and leases shared wireless infrastructure. Its primary business consists of providing tower-based site leases, small cell networks and fiber solutions that support mobile voice and data transmission for wireless carriers, cable companies and other enterprise customers. The company’s assets are positioned to enable network coverage and capacity, including the densification projects associated with 4G LTE and 5G deployments.

Its product and service offerings include ground-based tower sites that host multiple wireless operators, distributed small cell nodes and associated fiber backhaul used to connect sites into carrier networks, and site development and maintenance services.