Wellington Management Group LLP Purchases New Shares in The GEO Group, Inc. (NYSE:GEO)

Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in The GEO Group, Inc. (NYSE:GEO) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 632,075 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $17,685,000. Wellington Management Group LLP owned about 0.45% of The GEO Group as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in The GEO Group by 160.0% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,170 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 720 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in The GEO Group by 149.5% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,527 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 915 shares during the last quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management raised its position in The GEO Group by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 13,314 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $373,000 after purchasing an additional 1,030 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in The GEO Group by 18.6% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,155 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $228,000 after purchasing an additional 1,281 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of The GEO Group by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 40,537 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,134,000 after acquiring an additional 1,289 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 target price on shares of The GEO Group in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. StockNews.com lowered The GEO Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. UBS Group set a $35.00 target price on shares of The GEO Group in a report on Monday, March 24th. Jones Trading restated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of The GEO Group in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Noble Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of The GEO Group in a research note on Monday, March 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $41.00.

The GEO Group Stock Performance

Shares of The GEO Group stock opened at $26.35 on Wednesday. The GEO Group, Inc. has a one year low of $11.75 and a one year high of $36.46. The company has a market capitalization of $3.72 billion, a PE ratio of 90.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.10.

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

Insider Activity at The GEO Group

In other news, EVP Shayn P. March sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total transaction of $225,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 4.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About The GEO Group

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.