Principal Financial Group Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Uniti Group Inc. $UNIT

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in Uniti Group Inc. (NASDAQ:UNIT) by 38.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 861,438 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 543,708 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.58% of Uniti Group worth $5,272,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. King Street Capital Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Uniti Group by 36.4% during the second quarter. King Street Capital Management L.P. now owns 6,000,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,920,000 after acquiring an additional 1,600,000 shares in the last quarter. Bracebridge Capital LLC boosted its stake in Uniti Group by 33.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bracebridge Capital LLC now owns 3,234,638 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $13,974,000 after purchasing an additional 802,600 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Uniti Group in the 2nd quarter worth $731,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Uniti Group by 4.2% in the second quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 362,088 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,564,000 after purchasing an additional 14,485 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&G PLC bought a new position in shares of Uniti Group during the second quarter valued at $198,000. Institutional investors own 87.51% of the company’s stock.

Uniti Group Trading Up 3.6%

UNIT opened at $8.36 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $7.45 and its 200 day moving average is $6.68. The company has a market cap of $1.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.47. Uniti Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $5.30 and a 12-month high of $12.34.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on UNIT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Uniti Group in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $7.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Uniti Group in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Uniti Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 31st. Barclays set a $8.00 target price on shares of Uniti Group in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Uniti Group from $7.50 to $7.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Uniti Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $7.06.

Uniti Group Profile

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.