Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 20,409,502 Shares of Uniti Group Inc. $UNIT

Vanguard Group Inc. decreased its stake in Uniti Group Inc. (NASDAQ:UNIT) by 55.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,708,732 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 20,409,502 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.11% of Uniti Group worth $102,257,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Savant Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Uniti Group by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 63,592 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $275,000 after purchasing an additional 1,601 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,629 shares in the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its position 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 buying an additional 1,795 shares during the last quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC grew its position in Uniti Group by 11.1% in the 2nd quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 19,236 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 1,924 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC increased its position in shares of Uniti Group by 12.1% during the second quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 35,156 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $152,000 after acquiring an additional 3,806 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.51% of the company’s stock.

Uniti Group Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of UNIT opened at $7.84 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $7.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.50. Uniti Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $5.30 and a twelve month high of $11.73.

Uniti Group (NASDAQ:UNIT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The real estate investment trust reported ($1.19) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.46) by ($0.73). The business had revenue of $917.30 million for 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 212.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.35 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Uniti Group Inc. will post 1.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UNIT has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Uniti Group from $7.50 to $7.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered Uniti Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $11.00 price target on shares of Uniti Group in a report on Tuesday. Barclays set a $8.00 target price on shares of Uniti Group in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Uniti Group in a report on Monday, December 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $7.66.

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.