Uniti Group (NASDAQ:UNIT) Trading Up 5% on Strong Earnings

Uniti Group Inc. (NASDAQ:UNIT)’s stock price rose 5% during mid-day trading on Monday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as high as $6.17 and last traded at $5.90. Approximately 889,338 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 52% from the average daily volume of 1,834,253 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.62.

The real estate investment trust reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.02. Uniti Group had a negative return on equity of 4.12% and a net margin of 8.82%. The business had revenue of $293.32 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $294.59 million.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Uniti Group from $5.50 to $6.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Raymond James raised shares of Uniti Group from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $6.00 to $8.00 in a report on Monday.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Uniti Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in shares of Uniti Group by 51.3% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 8,460 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 2,870 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC acquired a new position in Uniti Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $64,000. Pitcairn Co. bought a new position in Uniti Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $69,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Uniti Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $68,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Uniti Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $70,000. 87.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Uniti Group Trading Up 3.4 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $5.56 and a 200 day moving average of $5.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.18 and a beta of 1.31.

Uniti Group Company Profile

Uniti Group, Inc is a real estate investment trust company, which engages in the acquisition, construction, and leasing of properties. It operates through the following business segments: Uniti Leasing, Uniti Fiber, and Corporate. The Uniti Leasing segment involves mission-critical communications assets on exclusive or shared-tenant basis, and dark fiber network.