Uniti Group (NASDAQ:UNIT) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Wells Fargo & Company Analyst Says

Key Points

• Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target for Uniti Group from $4.50 to $7.50, indicating a potential upside of 9.25% from the current stock price.
• Uniti Group's recent earnings report shows a miss on EPS estimates, reporting $0.36 versus an expected $0.42, with revenue of $300.73 million.
• Institutional investors have shown increased interest, with several firms acquiring new positions or raising their holdings in Uniti Group during the second quarter.

Uniti Group (NASDAQ:UNIT - Get Free Report) had its price target upped by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $4.50 to $7.50 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "equal weight" rating on the real estate investment trust's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price target would indicate a potential upside of 18.11% from the company's previous close.

Separately, Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $5.30 target price on shares of Uniti Group in a research report on Friday, May 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $6.70.

Uniti Group Trading Down 9.4%

Shares of UNIT stock traded down $0.66 on Thursday, reaching $6.35. 3,285,058 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,138,691. Uniti Group has a 52 week low of $6.32 and a 52 week high of $12.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $939.67 million, a PE ratio of 23.08 and a beta of 1.47. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $4.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4.94.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Uniti Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of UNIT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Uniti Group by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,996,734 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $186,464,000 after acquiring an additional 151,070 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its position in shares of Uniti Group by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 6,689,243 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $33,714,000 after acquiring an additional 45,724 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Uniti Group by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,317,569 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $34,754,000 after acquiring an additional 101,702 shares in the last quarter. Apollo Management Holdings L.P. raised its position in shares of Uniti Group by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Apollo Management Holdings L.P. now owns 5,239,917 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $28,820,000 after acquiring an additional 231,977 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Uniti Group by 23.6% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,604,599 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $23,207,000 after acquiring an additional 877,911 shares in the last quarter. 87.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.