Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Uniti Group Call Options (NASDAQ:UNIT)

Key Points

• Unusual options activity: Traders purchased 20,053 Uniti Group call options, roughly 1,626% above the typical volume of 1,162 contracts.
• Mixed analyst outlook: Analysts maintain an average “Hold” rating with a consensus price target of $11.47, although price targets range from $11 to $16 and include both Buy and Strong Buy ratings.
• Weak recent performance: Uniti shares traded at $6.86, well below their 50-day and 200-day moving averages, while the company’s latest quarterly EPS loss of $0.68 missed estimates by $0.23 despite revenue exceeding expectations.

Uniti Group Inc. (NASDAQ:UNIT - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock traders acquired 20,053 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 1,626% compared to the typical volume of 1,162 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UNIT has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Uniti Group from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 31st. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Uniti Group from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Uniti Group in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Raymond James Financial set a $16.00 price objective on shares of Uniti Group and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Uniti Group from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $11.47.

Uniti Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:UNIT traded down $0.01 on Monday, hitting $6.86. 2,502,906 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,364,954. Uniti Group has a 12 month low of $5.30 and a 12 month high of $12.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.42. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $9.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $10.43.

Uniti Group (NASDAQ:UNIT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.68) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.45) by ($0.23). The company had revenue of $909.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $884.82 million. Uniti Group had a net margin of 28.68% and a negative return on equity of 133.07%. Equities analysts forecast that Uniti Group will post -2.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Uniti Group

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNIT. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Uniti Group by 26.2% during the 1st quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,195 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 1,494 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV purchased a new stake in shares of Uniti Group in the 1st quarter worth $43,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Uniti Group by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 92,743 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $870,000 after buying an additional 4,782 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Uniti Group in the 2nd quarter worth $95,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Uniti Group by 1,579.8% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 8,802 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 8,278 shares in the last quarter. 87.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Uniti Group

Uniti Group Inc is a communications infrastructure company that owns, operates and leases fiber-optic networks, wireless infrastructure and other telecommunications real estate. Its assets support broadband providers, wireless carriers, enterprises, government organizations and other communications customers.

The company's services and infrastructure include dark-fiber leasing, lit fiber transport, network backhaul, fiber-to-the-tower connections, small-cell infrastructure, wireless towers and related colocation or real estate arrangements.

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