Uniti Group (NASDAQ:UNIT) Stock Price Down 9.6% Following Weak Earnings

Uniti Group Inc. (NASDAQ:UNIT) shares fell 9.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as low as $9.40 and last traded at $9.3760. 1,561,171 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 33% from the average daily volume of 2,327,434 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.37.

The real estate investment trust reported ($0.68) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.43) by ($0.25).

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group set a $12.00 target price on Uniti Group in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Uniti Group from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Williams Trading set a $12.00 price objective on shares of Uniti Group in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Uniti Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Uniti Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.14.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Amundi lifted its position in Uniti Group by 38.3% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 52,782 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $495,000 after buying an additional 14,618 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Uniti Group by 16.7% during the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 171,559 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,609,000 after buying an additional 24,594 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of Uniti Group by 159.5% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 47,947 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $449,000 after acquiring an additional 29,467 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew 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 valued at $870,000 after acquiring an additional 4,782 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Uniti Group by 46.6% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 51,413 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $482,000 after acquiring an additional 16,335 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.51% of the company’s stock.

Uniti Group Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $2.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.40. The business has a 50-day moving average of $11.28 and a 200-day moving average of $9.86.

Uniti Group Company Profile

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.