Tufton Capital Management Sells 1,798 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Tufton Capital Management cut its position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 64,665 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,798 shares during the quarter. Crown Castle makes up about 1.6% of Tufton Capital Management’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Tufton Capital Management’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $7,449,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. United Services Automobile Association raised its position in shares of Crown Castle by 23.1% during the third quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 13,411 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,234,000 after buying an additional 2,516 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 117,914 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $10,852,000 after buying an additional 542 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Crown Castle by 8,611.0% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 703,236 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $81,006,000 after acquiring an additional 695,163 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Group LLC acquired a new position in Crown Castle during the fourth quarter worth $5,005,000. Finally, Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 82.3% during the fourth quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 36,963 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,205,000 after acquiring an additional 16,687 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Crown Castle Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of CCI traded down $0.14 on Thursday, reaching $92.91. 1,363,165 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,759,494. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $105.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $105.15. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12 month low of $84.72 and a 12 month high of $134.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.46.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.92). The business had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.63 billion. Crown Castle had a net margin of 21.47% and a return on equity of 21.95%. The business’s revenue was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.91 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.