Uniti Group (NASDAQ:UNIT) Shares Up 5% Following Strong Earnings

Uniti Group Inc. (NASDAQ:UNIT)’s share price rose 5% during trading on Monday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as high as $6.17 and last traded at $5.90. Approximately 889,338 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 52% from the average daily volume of 1,834,253 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.62.

The real estate investment trust reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $293.32 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $294.59 million. Uniti Group had a net margin of 8.82% and a negative return on equity of 4.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on UNIT shares. Raymond James raised Uniti Group from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $6.00 to $8.00 in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Uniti Group from $5.50 to $6.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd.

Institutional Trading of Uniti Group

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNIT. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Uniti Group by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,937,013 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $43,654,000 after purchasing an additional 62,377 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Uniti Group by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,317,569 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $34,754,000 after buying an additional 101,702 shares during the period. Apollo Management Holdings L.P. lifted its position in Uniti Group by 4.6% during 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. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Uniti Group by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,748,895 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $15,119,000 after acquiring an additional 295,104 shares during the period. Finally, King Street Capital Management L.P. grew its position in Uniti Group by 66.7% in the fourth quarter. King Street Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,600,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $14,300,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040,000 shares in the last quarter. 87.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Uniti Group Stock Up 3.4 %

The business’s 50 day moving average price is $5.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.41. The company has a market cap of $1.42 billion, a PE ratio of 14.18 and a beta of 1.31.

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.