Candriam S.C.A. Grows Position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Candriam S.C.A. lifted its stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 23.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 44,981 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 8,581 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $4,082,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CCI. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the third quarter worth $47,000. Equitable Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 2.2% in the third quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 283,299 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,608,000 after buying an additional 6,189 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the third quarter worth $311,000. SpiderRock Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 13.7% in the third quarter. SpiderRock Advisors LLC now owns 4,426 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $525,000 after buying an additional 533 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its position in Crown Castle by 24.1% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 19,113 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,267,000 after purchasing an additional 3,717 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Crown Castle Trading Up 2.7 %

NYSE CCI opened at $97.78 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $90.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $101.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. The stock has a market cap of $42.49 billion, a PE ratio of 34.67 and a beta of 0.89. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12 month low of $84.20 and a 12 month high of $120.92.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $1.565 dividend. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is presently 221.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CCI. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Crown Castle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $127.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $116.00 to $96.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. JMP Securities began coverage on shares of Crown Castle in a research report on Monday, January 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. Barclays upgraded shares of Crown Castle from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $117.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $108.75.

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.