Bailard Inc. Takes Position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Bailard Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,768 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $342,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CCI. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 300.0% in the fourth quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 400 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Crown Castle in the third quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Investors Research Corp lifted its holdings in Crown Castle by 57.2% in the third 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.

Crown Castle Trading Down 1.6 %

Crown Castle stock opened at $94.32 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $89.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $102.12. Crown Castle Inc. has a 52 week low of $84.20 and a 52 week high of $120.92. The stock has a market cap of $40.99 billion, a PE ratio of 33.45 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $1.565 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.64%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 221.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on CCI shares. Barclays raised shares of Crown Castle from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $117.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citizens Jmp raised Crown Castle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Crown Castle from $116.00 to $96.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Moffett Nathanson decreased their target price on Crown Castle from $127.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $108.75.

About Crown Castle

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.