Uniti Group (NASDAQ:UNIT) Stock Price Down 6% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Uniti Group shares fell 6% to about $7.88 in heavy price weakness, although trading volume was roughly 90% below the stock’s average daily volume.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed but leans neutral: the consensus rating is “Hold” with an average price target of $11.47, while targets range from $11 to $16.
• The company missed quarterly EPS expectations, reporting a loss of $0.68 per share versus the expected $0.45 loss, despite revenue of $909.7 million exceeding estimates; institutional investors own 87.51% of the stock.

Uniti Group Inc. (NASDAQ:UNIT - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded down 6% on Thursday. The stock traded as low as $7.99 and last traded at $7.8770. Approximately 239,786 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 90% from the average daily volume of 2,286,006 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.38.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UNIT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial set a $16.00 price objective on shares of Uniti Group and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Uniti Group from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 31st. Barclays upped their price objective on Uniti Group from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Uniti Group in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Uniti Group from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company's 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 Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $1.90 billion, a PE ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.39. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.43.

Uniti Group (NASDAQ:UNIT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.68) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.45) by ($0.23). Uniti Group had a negative return on equity of 133.07% and a net margin of 28.68%.The firm had revenue of $909.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $884.82 million. Equities analysts forecast that Uniti Group Inc. will post -2.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Uniti Group

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in UNIT. Corient Private Wealth LP purchased a new position in Uniti Group in the second quarter worth about $178,000. BTG Pactual Asset Management US LLC bought a new position in Uniti Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,583,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in Uniti Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $95,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Uniti Group in the second quarter worth about $15,701,000. Finally, Amundi lifted its stake in Uniti Group by 38.3% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 52,782 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $495,000 after purchasing an additional 14,618 shares during the last quarter. 87.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Uniti Group Company Profile

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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