Uniti Group (NASDAQ:UNIT) Sets New 52-Week Low – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Uniti Group Inc. (NASDAQ:UNIT) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The company traded as low as $4.82 and last traded at $4.8850, with a volume of 1,387,236 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.08.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Uniti Group from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Uniti Group from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Raymond James Financial set a $16.00 price target on shares of Uniti Group and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Uniti Group from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Uniti Group from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.47.

Uniti Group Stock Down 2.9%

The stock has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.42. The company’s 50-day moving average is $8.44 and its 200-day moving average is $9.48.

Uniti Group (NASDAQ:UNIT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.68) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $884.82 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Uniti Group Inc. will post -2.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Uniti Group

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Uniti Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $15,701,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Uniti Group by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 870,891 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,169,000 after purchasing an additional 16,971 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Uniti Group by 4.2% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 712,211 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,968,000 after buying an additional 28,411 shares during the period. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC boosted its stake in Uniti Group by 26.9% in the 1st quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 505,246 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,739,000 after purchasing an additional 107,000 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Uniti Group during the first quarter worth about $4,203,000. Institutional investors own 87.51% of the company’s stock.

Uniti Group Company Profile

Uniti Group Inc is a communications infrastructure company that owns, operates and acquires critical network assets used by telecommunications providers and other customers. Its portfolio primarily includes fiber-optic networks, wireless towers, small-cell infrastructure and related real estate. Uniti generally leases this infrastructure to communications companies under long-term agreements.

The company’s fiber network supports services such as broadband, data transmission, wireless backhaul and enterprise connectivity.