Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Boosts Stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,102 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 435 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $1,734,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CCI. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Crown Castle by 3.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 20,875,581 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,476,470,000 after purchasing an additional 747,390 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Crown Castle by 23.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 17,528,597 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,079,417,000 after acquiring an additional 3,371,186 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,105,151 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,434,229,000 after purchasing an additional 151,990 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 1.1% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,177,250 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $603,518,000 after purchasing an additional 67,072 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Crown Castle by 7.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 5,174,920 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $613,900,000 after purchasing an additional 348,296 shares during the period. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

Shares of CCI opened at $88.62 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.54. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1 year low of $84.20 and a 1 year high of $120.92. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $95.88 and a 200-day moving average of $105.47. The company has a market cap of $38.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.43 and a beta of 0.87.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $1.565 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.06%. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is 221.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on CCI shares. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $118.00 to $102.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup set a $128.00 price target on shares of Crown Castle in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. UBS Group upped their price objective on Crown Castle from $103.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Crown Castle from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Crown Castle has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.80.

Crown Castle 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.