Geo Group Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:GEO)

Geo Group Inc (The) (NYSE:GEO) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Traders acquired 14,291 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 100% compared to the typical daily volume of 7,159 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Geo Group

In other news, insider Ronald A. Brack sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.00, for a total value of $224,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 71,614 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,291,648. The trade was a 8.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Matthew Albence sold 11,797 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.45, for a total value of $371,015.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 87,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,755,082.90. The trade was a 11.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 28,797 shares of company stock worth $911,916 over the last 90 days. 4.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Geo Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Geo Group during the second quarter valued at $34,000. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Geo Group by 111.9% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,723 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 910 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc bought a new stake in shares of Geo Group in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its holdings in Geo Group by 22.7% in the first quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 3,866 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 715 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC bought a new position in Geo Group during the 2nd quarter worth $229,000. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Geo Group Stock Performance

Shares of Geo Group stock traded up $1.04 on Wednesday, hitting $30.78. The stock had a trading volume of 865,970 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,138,600. The stock has a market cap of $4.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. Geo Group has a twelve month low of $12.51 and a twelve month high of $33.15. The business’s 50 day moving average is $31.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.32.

Geo Group (NYSE:GEO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.08. Geo Group had a net margin of 10.31% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The business had revenue of $732.07 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $721.43 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.22 earnings per share. Geo Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Geo Group will post 1.31 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GEO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Northland Securities upped their price target on Geo Group from $30.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. JonesTrading lifted their price objective on shares of Geo Group from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. UBS Group reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Geo Group in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Geo Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 25th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Geo Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.00.

Geo Group Company Profile

The GEO Group, Inc (NYSE:GEO) is a provider of correctional, detention, reentry and community-based services. The company designs, develops, finances and manages secure facilities for government agencies, including correctional institutions, immigration detention centers and other custodial facilities.

GEO also provides electronic monitoring and community supervision services, including location monitoring, case management and related technologies. Through its reentry services, the company operates residential centers and programs intended to support individuals transitioning from incarceration to community living, employment and other post-release services.

Founded in 1984 as Wackenhut Corrections Corporation, the company adopted the name The GEO Group in 2003.