Geopark (NYSE:GPRK) Stock Price Breaks Below 50 Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Geopark Ltd (NYSE:GPRK)’s stock price passed below its 50 day moving average during trading on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $11.09 and traded as low as $10.90. Geopark shares last traded at $10.9910, with a volume of 719,207 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GPRK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Geopark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Geopark from $12.00 to $13.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Geopark in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.50.

Geopark Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $568.34 million, a P/E ratio of 7.48 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $11.09 and a 200 day moving average of $9.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

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

Geopark Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th were paid a $0.0230 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $0.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Geopark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.12%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director James Park sold 120,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.65, for a total transaction of $1,158,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 792,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,643,938.70. This trade represents a 13.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Institutional Trading of Geopark

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in Geopark by 21.2% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,309,031 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $31,436,000 after acquiring an additional 578,178 shares during the period. Flax Pond Capital LLC acquired a new position in Geopark in the first quarter worth about $3,352,000. Sycale Advisors NY LLC bought a new position in Geopark during the first quarter worth about $3,222,000. Armstrong Fleming & Moore Inc lifted its stake in Geopark by 1.8% during the third quarter. Armstrong Fleming & Moore Inc now owns 241,517 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,524,000 after purchasing an additional 4,357 shares during the period. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Geopark by 4.5% during the third quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 232,808 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,433,000 after purchasing an additional 10,008 shares during the period. 68.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Geopark

GeoPark Limited is an independent Latin American oil and natural gas exploration and production company. Its activities include identifying prospective hydrocarbon resources, acquiring and developing oil and gas assets, drilling wells, and producing and selling crude oil and natural gas.

Founded in 2002, the company has built a portfolio of upstream assets in South America. Its operations have included the Llanos and Putumayo basins in Colombia, as well as assets in Brazil, Chile, Peru and Argentina at various points in its history.