Uniti Group (NASDAQ:UNIT) Sets New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Shares of Uniti Group Inc. (NASDAQ:UNIT) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $12.18 and last traded at $12.0160, with a volume of 238771 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $11.83.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on UNIT shares. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $11.00 price target on shares of Uniti Group in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of 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 lifted their price objective on shares of Uniti Group from $8.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Uniti Group in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Uniti Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Uniti Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $8.92.

Uniti Group Stock Up 0.9%

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $8.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $7.53. The firm has a market cap of $2.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.33.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Uniti Group in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of Uniti Group by 20.6% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 10,511 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 1,795 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV purchased a new position in Uniti Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $72,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Uniti Group in the third quarter worth $75,000. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Uniti Group in the fourth quarter worth $78,000. Institutional investors own 87.51% of the company’s stock.

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.