Uniti Group (NASDAQ:UNIT) Stock Price Up 5.8% – Still a Buy?

Uniti Group Inc. (NASDAQ:UNIT) shares shot up 5.8% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $5.71 and last traded at $5.70. 1,367,536 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 49% from the average session volume of 2,684,399 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.39.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $5.50 price target on shares of Uniti Group in a research note on Thursday, August 29th.

Uniti Group Stock Down 0.7 %

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $4.97 and a 200 day moving average of $4.31. The company has a market capitalization of $1.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 95.33 and a beta of 1.29.

Uniti Group (NASDAQ:UNIT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.28). Uniti Group had a negative return on equity of 0.37% and a net margin of 0.79%. The firm had revenue of $294.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $289.97 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.34 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Uniti Group Inc. will post 1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Ronald J. Mudry sold 28,693 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.94, for a total transaction of $113,050.42. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 513,761 shares in the company, valued at $2,024,218.34. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of UNIT. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Uniti Group by 9.6% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 30,923 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $90,000 after purchasing an additional 2,711 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its position in Uniti Group by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 208,133 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,228,000 after buying an additional 2,938 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Uniti Group by 49.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,906 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 2,960 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp boosted its holdings in Uniti Group by 4.5% in the first quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 76,360 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $451,000 after acquiring an additional 3,254 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in Uniti Group by 7.5% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 48,051 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $284,000 after acquiring an additional 3,339 shares during the period. 87.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Uniti Group

Uniti, an internally managed real estate investment trust, is engaged in the acquisition and construction of mission critical communications infrastructure, and is a leading provider of fiber and other wireless solutions for the communications industry. As of December 31, 2023, Uniti owns approximately 140,000 fiber route miles, 8.5 million fiber strand miles, and other communications real estate throughout the United States.