Uniti Group Inc. (NASDAQ:UNIT) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Uniti Group Inc. (NASDAQ:UNIT) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eight analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $8.9167.

UNIT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Uniti Group from $6.50 to $7.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Barclays boosted their price target on Uniti Group from $8.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Zacks Research upgraded Uniti Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 3rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Uniti Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Uniti Group from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th.

Uniti Group Price Performance

UNIT opened at $11.77 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $7.76. The company has a market capitalization of $2.86 billion, a PE ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 1.33. Uniti Group has a 1 year low of $5.30 and a 1 year high of $12.18.

Uniti Group (NASDAQ:UNIT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The real estate investment trust reported ($1.19) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.46) by ($0.73). The firm had revenue of $917.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $909.44 million. Uniti Group had a net margin of 55.60% and a negative return on equity of 2.52%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 212.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.35 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Uniti Group will post -1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Uniti Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNIT. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in Uniti Group by 10.1% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 198,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $998,000 after acquiring an additional 18,165 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in Uniti Group in the 1st quarter valued at $161,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Uniti Group by 23.6% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,604,599 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $23,207,000 after acquiring an additional 877,911 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association acquired a new position in Uniti Group in the 1st quarter valued at $80,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Uniti Group by 40.9% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 50,586 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $219,000 after acquiring an additional 14,696 shares in the last quarter. 87.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Uniti Group

Uniti Group Inc is a real estate investment trust that owns, operates and acquires communications infrastructure assets across the United States. Established in September 2015 through a spin-off from Windstream Holdings, Uniti Group focuses on leasing fiber, small cell networks, cell towers and related infrastructure to service providers, wireless carriers and other enterprises requiring high-capacity connectivity. The company’s assets are designed to support the growing data demands of residential, business and governmental customers, with an emphasis on long-term contractual lease arrangements.

Uniti’s portfolio encompasses an extensive fiber network that spans metropolitan and rural markets, as well as a portfolio of wireless towers and small cell nodes that facilitate mobile network densification and help carriers deploy 5G services.