Geopark (NYSE:GPRK) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Here’s Why

Geopark Ltd (NYSE:GPRK) saw unusually-high trading volume on Thursday . 1,117,187 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 51% from the previous session’s volume of 737,999 shares.The stock last traded at $12.5790 and had previously closed at $11.69.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on GPRK. Wall Street Zen downgraded Geopark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Geopark in a research report on Friday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.50.

Geopark Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.55. The firm has a market cap of $621.50 million, a PE ratio of 8.18 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Geopark (NYSE:GPRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $143.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $185.50 million. Geopark had a return on equity of 31.33% and a net margin of 16.00%.

Geopark Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th were paid a $0.023 dividend. This represents a $0.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 19th. Geopark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director James Franklin Park sold 120,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.65, for a total transaction of $1,158,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 792,118 shares in the company, valued at $7,643,938.70. This represents a 13.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Geopark

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pale Fire Capital SE raised its holdings in shares of Geopark by 194.4% in the 2nd quarter. Pale Fire Capital SE now owns 63,300 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $576,000 after buying an additional 41,800 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of Geopark in the second quarter worth about $29,000. Ramsey Quantitative Systems acquired a new stake in Geopark during the second quarter worth approximately $143,000. Flax Pond Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Geopark in the first quarter valued at about $3,352,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Geopark by 13.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 31,504 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 3,823 shares in the last quarter. 68.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Geopark Company Profile

Geopark Ltd. (NYSE:GPRK) is an independent oil and gas exploration and production company focused on Latin America. Founded in 2002 and with corporate offices in Canada and regional headquarters in Bogotá, Colombia, Geopark pursues the discovery and development of unconventional and conventional hydrocarbon resources. The company’s strategy emphasizes asset consolidation in established basins alongside disciplined capital allocation to maximize production efficiency.

The company’s core operations are centered in Colombia’s Llanos Basin, where it holds interests in several producing blocks that deliver light crude oil to local and export markets.