Ellsworth Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 3,824 Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Ellsworth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 3,824 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $440,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its position in Crown Castle by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 2,734 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $505,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Crown Castle by 33.4% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,954 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $730,000 after buying an additional 991 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its position in Crown Castle by 4,497.6% during the first quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 5,701 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,052,000 after purchasing an additional 5,577 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its stake in Crown Castle by 12.3% in the first quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 4,802 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $886,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of Crown Castle by 205.9% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 878 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $162,000 after purchasing an additional 591 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Crown Castle Trading Up 0.2 %

CCI stock traded up $0.24 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $105.83. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,073,236 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,770,186. The company has a market cap of $45.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.74. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12 month low of $84.72 and a 12 month high of $136.29. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $107.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $104.62. 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 Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.565 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.92%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 180.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Crown Castle from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 5th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $92.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. HSBC began coverage on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Thursday, December 14th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $110.00 target price for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Crown Castle from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $107.00 to $110.00 in a report on Friday, January 19th. 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.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $121.33.

Crown Castle Company 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.