Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $95.17 Million in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 1,048,555 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $95,167,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.24% of Crown Castle at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CCI. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the third quarter worth approximately $47,000. Equitable Trust Co. boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 6,189 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Crown Castle during the third quarter worth $311,000. SpiderRock Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Crown Castle by 13.7% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in Crown Castle by 24.1% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 19,113 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,267,000 after buying an additional 3,717 shares during the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Crown Castle Price Performance

CCI stock opened at $97.78 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization 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. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $90.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $101.88.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CCI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays raised Crown Castle from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $117.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Citizens Jmp raised Crown Castle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Crown Castle from $118.00 to $102.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Crown Castle from $116.00 to $96.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, JMP Securities initiated coverage on Crown Castle in a research note on Monday, January 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.