Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. Boosts Stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. increased its stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 44.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 6,107 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 1,870 shares during the period. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc.’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $554,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Versor Investments LP boosted its position in Crown Castle by 120.0% in the 4th quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 8,447 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $767,000 after buying an additional 4,608 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Crown Castle by 29.4% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,243,722 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $113,465,000 after buying an additional 282,821 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in Crown Castle in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,231,000. Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new position in Crown Castle in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,083,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Crown Castle by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,088,017 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $603,592,000 after buying an additional 203,442 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Crown Castle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CCI opened at $102.91 on Tuesday. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12 month low of $84.20 and a 12 month high of $120.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.49 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $91.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $101.26.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $1.565 per share. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.08%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is currently -69.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $116.00 to $96.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Crown Castle from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $105.00 in a report on Monday. UBS Group upgraded shares of Crown Castle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Crown Castle to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Crown Castle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $127.00 to $84.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $110.29.

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.