Uniti Group (NASDAQ:UNIT) Shares Gap Up Following Earnings Beat

Uniti Group Inc. (NASDAQ:UNIT)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Friday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $5.42, but opened at $5.69. Uniti Group shares last traded at $5.77, with a volume of 613,164 shares traded.

The real estate investment trust reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 negative return on equity of 4.12% and a net margin of 8.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Uniti Group from $5.50 to $6.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Uniti Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in Uniti Group by 51.3% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 8,460 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 2,870 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Uniti Group during the third quarter worth about $64,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Uniti Group in the fourth quarter worth about $68,000. Pitcairn Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Uniti Group in the third quarter worth about $69,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Uniti Group in the third quarter worth about $70,000. 87.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Uniti Group Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $5.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5.40. The company has a market cap of $1.37 billion, a PE ratio of 13.71 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.