Ellsworth Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Ellsworth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 3,824 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $440,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CCI. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the 4th quarter valued at $642,077,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 90,084.4% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,487,430 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $473,035,000 after purchasing an additional 3,483,563 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in Crown Castle by 2,296.2% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,885,158 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $262,351,000 after purchasing an additional 2,764,751 shares during the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. grew its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 27.6% in the 2nd quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 11,076,246 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,262,045,000 after buying an additional 2,398,791 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in Crown Castle by 42.8% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 7,083,665 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $651,910,000 after buying an additional 2,121,603 shares during the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

Crown Castle stock traded up $0.24 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $105.83. The company had a trading volume of 2,073,236 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,770,186. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.46. The firm has a market cap of $45.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.59, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a 50 day moving average of $107.87 and a 200-day moving average of $104.62. Crown Castle Inc. has a 52 week low of $84.72 and a 52 week high of $136.29.

Crown Castle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a dividend of $1.565 per share. This represents a $6.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 180.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.