Uniti Group (NASDAQ:UNIT) Sets New 1-Year High Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Shares of Uniti Group Inc. (NASDAQ:UNIT) hit a new 52-week high on Monday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock traded as high as $12.30 and last traded at $12.2790, with a volume of 197077 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $11.28.

The real estate investment trust reported ($0.34) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.35) by $0.01. Uniti Group had a net margin of 55.60% and a negative return on equity of 2.52%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 236.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.35 earnings per share.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNIT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Uniti Group from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Uniti Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 1st. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Uniti Group from $8.80 to $9.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Uniti Group from $8.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Uniti Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Uniti Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $8.92.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Uniti Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. KBC Group NV purchased a new position in shares of Uniti Group in the 1st quarter worth about $43,000. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Uniti Group in the 1st quarter worth about $100,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Uniti Group by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 870,891 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,169,000 after buying an additional 16,971 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in shares of Uniti Group in the 1st quarter worth about $1,781,000. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Uniti Group in the 1st quarter worth about $746,000. 87.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Uniti Group Trading Up 3.5%

The stock’s fifty day moving average is $9.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $7.91. The company has a market capitalization of $2.83 billion, a PE ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.44.

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.