Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Uniti Group (NASDAQ:UNIT)

Uniti Group Inc. (NASDAQ:UNIT) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Investors bought 3,881 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 247% compared to the average daily volume of 1,120 call options.

Institutional Trading of Uniti Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNIT. Savant Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Uniti Group by 2.6% in the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 63,592 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 1,601 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Uniti Group by 2.0% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 84,017 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $363,000 after purchasing an additional 1,629 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its position in Uniti Group by 20.6% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 10,511 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 1,795 shares during the period. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Uniti Group by 11.1% during the 2nd quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 19,236 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 1,924 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Uniti Group by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 20,302 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $139,000 after buying an additional 1,956 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.51% of the company’s stock.

Uniti Group Trading Up 10.6%

NASDAQ UNIT opened at $8.32 on Friday. Uniti Group has a 12-month low of $5.30 and a 12-month high of $12.34. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $7.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.49. The stock has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.45.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on UNIT shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Uniti Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Uniti Group in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $7.00 price target on the stock. Barclays set a $8.00 price objective on Uniti Group in a report on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Uniti Group in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $7.06.

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.