Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Buys 724 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 129,846 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 724 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $11,785,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Providence Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Crown Castle by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 22,668 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,057,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $561,714,000. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,188,000. Homestead Advisers Corp lifted its holdings in Crown Castle by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. Homestead Advisers Corp now owns 594,800 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $53,984,000 after buying an additional 92,100 shares during the period. Finally, NEOS Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Crown Castle by 31.5% in the fourth quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 25,998 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,360,000 after acquiring an additional 6,222 shares during the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

Shares of Crown Castle stock opened at $103.61 on Monday. 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 cap of $45.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.74 and a beta of 0.89. Crown Castle Inc. has a one year low of $84.20 and a one year high of $120.92. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $94.20 and its 200-day moving average is $100.51.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.04%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -69.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. UBS Group upgraded Crown Castle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. KeyCorp upgraded Crown Castle from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $120.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Wolfe Research raised Crown Castle from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Crown Castle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $127.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Crown Castle currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $110.00.

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.