Geo Group (NYSE:GEO) Trading Up 3.7% – Still a Buy?

Geo Group Inc (The) (NYSE:GEO)’s stock price shot up 3.7% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $30.70 and last traded at $30.8380. 937,356 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 56% from the average session volume of 2,139,086 shares. The stock had previously closed at $29.74.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Geo Group Trading Up 4.0%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 1.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $31.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.32.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Geo Group

In related news, VP Matthew Albence sold 11,797 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.45, for a total transaction of $371,015.65. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Ronald A. Brack sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.00, for a total value of $224,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 71,614 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,291,648. This represents a 8.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 28,797 shares of company stock worth $911,916. Company insiders own 4.98% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Geo Group

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GEO. Tidal Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Geo Group in the second quarter worth approximately $644,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in Geo Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $322,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new position in Geo Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $478,000. Corient Private Wealth LP acquired a new position in Geo Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $250,000. Finally, AXQ Capital LP acquired a new position in Geo Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $428,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

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.