Mizuho Markets Americas LLC Has $3.43 Million Stock Position in Uniti Group Inc. (NASDAQ:UNIT)

Key Points

• Mizuho Markets Americas LLC reduced its stake in Uniti Group Inc. by 5.5%, holding 679,704 shares worth approximately $3.43 million after selling 39,850 shares in the first quarter.
• Uniti Group reported $0.36 earnings per share for the latest quarter, missing estimates, while revenue was $300.73 million, slightly below expectations.
• Analyst ratings for Uniti Group are mixed, with one strong buy, three hold, and one sell rating, reflecting an average target price of $6.70.

Mizuho Markets Americas LLC trimmed its position in shares of Uniti Group Inc. (NASDAQ:UNIT - Free Report) by 5.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 679,704 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 39,850 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC owned about 0.28% of Uniti Group worth $3,426,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Uniti Group by 53.9% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 32,531 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $170,000 after acquiring an additional 11,395 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its holdings in shares of Uniti Group by 309.5% during the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 218,813 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,103,000 after acquiring an additional 165,383 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Uniti Group by 30.0% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 1,130,604 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $6,218,000 after acquiring an additional 260,740 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Uniti Group by 7.3% during the first quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 1,726,917 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $8,704,000 after acquiring an additional 118,095 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Uniti Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,418,000. 87.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $5.30 price target on shares of Uniti Group in a report on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Uniti Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Uniti Group from $4.50 to $7.50 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $6.70.

Uniti Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:UNIT traded down $0.23 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $6.53. 941,060 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,214,270. The stock has a market cap of $965.57 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.72 and a beta of 1.47. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $4.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $4.96. Uniti Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $6.32 and a fifty-two week high of $12.62.

Uniti Group (NASDAQ:UNIT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $300.73 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $304.06 million. Uniti Group had a net margin of 2.96% and a negative return on equity of 1.43%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.34 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Uniti Group Inc. will post 1.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Uniti Group

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.