Paloma Partners Management Co Acquires 63,480 Shares of Uniti Group Inc. $UNIT

Key Points

• Paloma Partners Management Co increased its holdings in Uniti Group Inc. by 5% during Q1, reaching a total value of approximately $6.77 million with 1,343,000 shares owned.
• Several large investors, including KBC Group NV and American Century Companies Inc., initiated new positions in Uniti Group in the same quarter, highlighting growing institutional interest, which now accounts for 87.51% of the company's stock ownership.
• Uniti Group reported earnings of $0.36 per share, missing analyst expectations, with revenue of $300.73 million for the quarter, indicating a slight increase of 2% year-over-year.

Paloma Partners Management Co lifted its stake in shares of Uniti Group Inc. (NASDAQ:UNIT - Free Report) by 5.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,343,000 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 63,480 shares during the quarter. Uniti Group comprises about 0.8% of Paloma Partners Management Co's investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Paloma Partners Management Co owned 0.55% of Uniti Group worth $6,769,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Uniti Group by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 146,093 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $804,000 after acquiring an additional 11,127 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Uniti Group by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 179,845 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $990,000 after acquiring an additional 15,828 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL boosted its holdings in shares of Uniti Group by 2,490.5% in the fourth quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 349,100 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,920,000 after acquiring an additional 335,624 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Uniti Group by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,748,895 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $15,119,000 after acquiring an additional 295,104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Uniti Group by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 836,178 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $4,599,000 after acquiring an additional 85,857 shares in the last quarter. 87.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Uniti Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Uniti Group from $4.50 to $7.50 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and set a $5.30 target price on shares of Uniti Group in a report on Friday, May 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $6.70.

Uniti Group Price Performance

Uniti Group stock traded up $0.19 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $6.44. The stock had a trading volume of 2,460,739 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,908,549. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $5.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $5.06. Uniti Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $5.68 and a twelve month high of $12.62. The firm has a market cap of $953.02 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.41 and a beta of 1.50.

Uniti Group (NASDAQ:UNIT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $300.73 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $304.06 million. Uniti Group had a negative return on equity of 1.43% and a net margin of 2.96%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.34 EPS. Uniti Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Uniti Group Inc. will post 1.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.