Uniti Group Inc. (NASDAQ:UNIT) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Uniti Group Inc. (NASDAQ:UNIT) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the nine ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $10.9167.

UNIT has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Uniti Group from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 31st. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Uniti Group from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Citigroup upped their price objective on Uniti Group from $9.00 to $11.75 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Uniti Group in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Williams Trading set a $12.00 target price on Uniti Group in a report on Tuesday, May 12th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Uniti Group

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in Uniti Group by 10.1% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 198,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $998,000 after purchasing an additional 18,165 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in Uniti Group in the first quarter worth approximately $161,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Uniti Group by 23.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,604,599 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $23,207,000 after buying an additional 877,911 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association bought a new position in shares of Uniti Group in the first quarter valued at $80,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Uniti Group by 40.9% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 50,586 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $219,000 after buying an additional 14,696 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.51% of the company’s stock.

Uniti Group Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ UNIT opened at $10.14 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 1.40. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.18. Uniti Group has a fifty-two week low of $5.30 and a fifty-two week high of $12.94.

Uniti Group (NASDAQ:UNIT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.68) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.45) by ($0.23). Uniti Group had a net margin of 28.68% and a negative return on equity of 133.07%. The company had revenue of $909.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $884.82 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Uniti Group will post -2.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Uniti Group Company Profile

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.