Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) Shares Sold by Tufton Capital Management

Tufton Capital Management reduced its stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 64,665 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,798 shares during the period. Crown Castle makes up approximately 1.6% of Tufton Capital Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Tufton Capital Management’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $7,449,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CCI. Waterfront Wealth Inc. boosted its position in Crown Castle by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 5,515 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $635,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Court Place Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter worth $201,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in Crown Castle by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 56,815 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,545,000 after buying an additional 6,917 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Crown Castle by 1,014.1% in the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,615 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $647,000 after buying an additional 5,111 shares in the last quarter. Finally, St. James Investment Company LLC raised its position in shares of Crown Castle by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. St. James Investment Company LLC now owns 150,207 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $17,302,000 after acquiring an additional 14,294 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Crown Castle Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE CCI traded down $0.14 during trading on Thursday, hitting $92.91. 1,363,165 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,759,494. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.46, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.40. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12-month low of $84.72 and a 12-month high of $134.09. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $105.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $105.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.37 billion, a PE ratio of 26.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.73.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.92). The firm had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.63 billion. Crown Castle had a return on equity of 21.95% and a net margin of 21.47%. Crown Castle’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $1.565 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.74%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 180.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on CCI shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Crown Castle from $126.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Scotiabank reduced their target price on Crown Castle from $133.00 to $118.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $92.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $119.40.

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.