The GEO Group (NYSE:GEO) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of The GEO Group (NYSE:GEO) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Friday.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on GEO. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 price objective (down previously from $46.00) on shares of The GEO Group in a report on Thursday. Noble Financial reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of The GEO Group in a report on Monday, March 24th. UBS Group set a $35.00 price objective on shares of The GEO Group in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Jones Trading reduced their price target on shares of The GEO Group from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, The GEO Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.00.

The GEO Group Stock Down 4.1%

GEO opened at $25.22 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 86.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.80. 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 business’s 50-day moving average price is $28.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.70. The GEO Group has a 12 month low of $11.75 and a 12 month high of $36.46.

The GEO Group (NYSE:GEO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $604.65 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $611.81 million. The GEO Group had a net margin of 2.00% and a return on equity of 9.20%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.14 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that The GEO Group will post 0.83 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Shayn P. March sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,024,070. The trade was a 10.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 5.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GEO. Discovery Capital Management LLC CT boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 1,452,400 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in The GEO Group by 202.6% in the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,124,783 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $59,451,000 after acquiring an additional 1,422,676 shares during the last quarter. Newbrook Capital Advisors LP purchased a new position in The GEO Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,738,000. BlueCrest Capital Management Ltd purchased a new position in The GEO Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,456,000. Finally, Forest Avenue Capital Management LP purchased a new position in The GEO Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $20,197,000. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

The GEO Group Company 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.