New England Asset Management Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

New England Asset Management Inc. decreased its position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 8.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 48,230 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 4,700 shares during the quarter. New England Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $5,556,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Crown Castle in the fourth quarter worth approximately $581,503,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 42.8% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 7,083,665 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $651,910,000 after buying an additional 2,121,603 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 21.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,134,538 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $932,682,000 after buying an additional 1,818,910 shares during the period. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $201,582,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Crown Castle by 18,200.7% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,651,456 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $190,231,000 after acquiring an additional 1,642,432 shares during the period. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Crown Castle Price Performance

Shares of Crown Castle stock traded down $0.59 on Wednesday, hitting $99.67. 2,303,835 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,815,343. Crown Castle Inc. has a 1-year low of $84.72 and a 1-year high of $119.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $98.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $106.28.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.92). Crown Castle had a return on equity of 21.30% and a net margin of 20.32%. The firm had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.63 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.91 earnings per share. Crown Castle’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $1.565 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.28%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 195.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on CCI shares. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Crown Castle from $126.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Crown Castle from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Crown Castle from $109.00 to $100.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $115.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $133.00 to $118.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.64.

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.