Uniti Group (NASDAQ:UNIT) Cut to Strong Sell at Zacks Research

Uniti Group (NASDAQ:UNIT) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Uniti Group in a report on Monday, December 29th. Barclays set a $8.00 price target on shares of Uniti Group in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Uniti Group from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen downgraded Uniti Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, March 1st. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $11.00 price target on shares of Uniti Group in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Uniti Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $7.86.

Uniti Group Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of UNIT opened at $8.05 on Thursday. Uniti Group has a 12-month low of $5.30 and a 12-month high of $11.73. The stock has a market cap of $1.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.50. The business’s fifty day moving average is $7.71 and its 200 day moving average is $6.84.

Uniti Group (NASDAQ:UNIT) last announced its earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The real estate investment trust reported ($1.19) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.46) by ($0.73). The firm had revenue of $917.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $909.44 million. Uniti Group had a net margin of 55.60% and a negative return on equity of 2.52%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 212.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.35 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Uniti Group will post 1.28 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Uniti Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in shares of Uniti Group by 10.1% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 198,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $998,000 after buying an additional 18,165 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in Uniti Group during the 1st quarter valued at $161,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Uniti Group by 23.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,604,599 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $23,207,000 after purchasing an additional 877,911 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association acquired a new stake in shares of Uniti Group in the 1st quarter worth $80,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in shares of Uniti Group by 3.5% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 549,664 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,375,000 after acquiring an additional 18,538 shares during the last quarter. 87.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.