Tufton Capital Management Grows Stock Holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Tufton Capital Management boosted its position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 64,239 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the period. Tufton Capital Management’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $5,830,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 107.9% during the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 262 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Crown Castle during the 3rd quarter worth $47,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC boosted its position in Crown Castle by 300.0% during the 4th quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 400 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Crown Castle during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CCI shares. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Crown Castle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $127.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $128.00 to $106.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson lowered their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $127.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $108.75.

Crown Castle Trading Up 2.1 %

Crown Castle stock opened at $93.58 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $89.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $102.55. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $40.67 billion, a PE ratio of 33.18 and a beta of 0.88. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12-month low of $84.20 and a 12-month high of $120.92.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.565 per share. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 221.99%.

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.