Uniti Group (NASDAQ:UNIT) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Shares of Uniti Group Inc. (NASDAQ:UNIT) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $12.45 and last traded at $12.1360, with a volume of 977897 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.61.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Uniti Group from $8.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Zacks Research raised shares of Uniti Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 3rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Uniti Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Uniti Group from $6.50 to $7.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Uniti Group from $9.00 to $11.75 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Uniti Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.92.

Uniti Group Price Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $11.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $8.85. The firm has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 1.40.

Uniti Group (NASDAQ:UNIT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 11th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.34) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.35) by $0.01. Uniti Group had a negative return on equity of 2.52% and a net margin of 39.61%.The firm had revenue of $987.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $930.08 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.35 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 236.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Uniti Group Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Uniti Group

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Uniti Group by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 12,202 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 1,352 shares in the last quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Uniti Group by 26.2% in the first 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 during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Uniti Group by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 84,017 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $363,000 after purchasing an additional 1,629 shares in the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Uniti Group by 20.6% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 10,511 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 1,795 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Xponance LLC increased its position in Uniti Group by 17.3% during the 4th quarter. Xponance LLC now owns 13,169 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 1,944 shares during the period. 87.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Uniti Group

Uniti Group Inc is a real estate investment trust that owns, operates and acquires communications infrastructure assets across the United States. Established in September 2015 through a spin-off from Windstream Holdings, Uniti Group focuses on leasing fiber, small cell networks, cell towers and related infrastructure to service providers, wireless carriers and other enterprises requiring high-capacity connectivity. The company’s assets are designed to support the growing data demands of residential, business and governmental customers, with an emphasis on long-term contractual lease arrangements.

Uniti’s portfolio encompasses an extensive fiber network that spans metropolitan and rural markets, as well as a portfolio of wireless towers and small cell nodes that facilitate mobile network densification and help carriers deploy 5G services.