Sterling Capital Management LLC Purchases 3,664 Shares of The GEO Group, Inc. (NYSE:GEO)

Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of The GEO Group, Inc. (NYSE:GEO) by 12.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,075 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,664 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in The GEO Group were worth $897,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of GEO. Discovery Capital Management LLC CT lifted its position in shares of The GEO Group by 375.2% during the fourth quarter. Discovery Capital Management LLC CT now owns 1,839,500 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $51,469,000 after acquiring an additional 1,452,400 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in shares of The GEO Group during the 4th quarter valued at $17,685,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in The GEO Group by 91.9% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 859,528 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $24,050,000 after purchasing an additional 411,565 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in The GEO Group in the 4th quarter worth about $7,398,000. Finally, Kirkoswald Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in The GEO Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $5,036,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on GEO shares. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 target price on shares of The GEO Group in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Jones Trading reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of The GEO Group in a report on Friday, March 21st. Noble Financial reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of The GEO Group in a research note on Monday, March 24th. UBS Group set a $35.00 target price on The GEO Group in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded The GEO Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.00.

Insider Transactions at The GEO Group

In related news, EVP Shayn P. March sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total transaction of $225,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 67,469 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,024,070. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 5.30% of the company’s stock.

The GEO Group Trading Down 3.7 %

NYSE GEO opened at $29.03 on Thursday. The GEO Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $11.75 and a 12 month high of $36.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $27.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.72. The stock has a market cap of $4.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 100.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.78.

The GEO Group (NYSE:GEO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.21 by ($0.08). The GEO Group had a net margin of 2.00% and a return on equity of 9.20%. The business had revenue of $607.72 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $607.45 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The GEO Group, Inc. will post 0.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The GEO Group Profile

The GEO Group, Inc (NYSE: GEO) engages in ownership, leasing, and management of secure facilities, processing centers, and community-based reentry facilities in the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, and South Africa. The company also provides secure facility management services, including the provision of security, administrative, rehabilitation, education, and food services; reentry services, such as temporary housing, programming, employment assistance, and other services; electronic monitoring and supervision services; and transportation services; as well as designs, constructs, and finances new facilities through projects.