Ameriprise Financial Inc. Lowers Position in Uniti Group Inc. (NASDAQ:UNIT)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. cut its holdings in Uniti Group Inc. (NASDAQ:UNIT - Free Report) by 23.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 583,063 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 174,417 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.24% of Uniti Group worth $3,207,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in shares of Uniti Group by 51.3% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 8,460 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 2,870 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Uniti Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $68,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB acquired a new stake in Uniti Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $71,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Uniti Group by 20.5% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 16,376 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $90,000 after purchasing an additional 2,790 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fox Run Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Uniti Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $99,000. 87.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Uniti Group Trading Down 2.5%

Shares of UNIT stock traded down $0.11 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $4.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,835,670 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,509,478. The stock has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a PE ratio of 10.49 and a beta of 1.59. Uniti Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $2.57 and a 12-month high of $6.31. The company has a 50 day moving average of $4.64 and a 200 day moving average of $5.25.

Uniti Group (NASDAQ:UNIT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35. The company had revenue of $293.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $295.39 million. Uniti Group had a net margin of 8.82% and a negative return on equity of 4.12%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Uniti Group Inc. will post 1.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on UNIT. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Uniti Group from $5.00 to $4.50 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Raymond James raised Uniti Group from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $6.00 to $8.00 in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $5.30 price objective on shares of Uniti Group in a report on Friday, May 16th.

Uniti Group 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.