Geode Capital Management LLC Buys 108,106 Shares of Geo Group Inc (The) $GEO

Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Geo Group Inc (The) (NYSE:GEO) by 3.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,259,307 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 108,106 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 2.31% of Geo Group worth $78,076,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Twin Tree Management LP bought a new stake in Geo Group during the first quarter worth $39,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Geo Group by 81.9% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,864 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 839 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Geo Group by 19.8% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,653 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares during the period. Militia Capital Partners LP acquired a new stake in Geo Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $91,000. Finally, Alamea Verwaltungs GmbH acquired a new stake in Geo Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $203,000. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Geo Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GEO opened at $15.01 on Friday. Geo Group Inc has a one year low of $14.27 and a one year high of $36.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market cap of $2.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.67. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $17.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.09.

Geo Group (NYSE:GEO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, September 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Geo Group had a net margin of 3.69% and a return on equity of 7.26%. The company had revenue of $565.42 million during the quarter. Geo Group has set its FY22 guidance at $2.40-2.46 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Geo Group Inc will post 0.83 EPS for the current year.

Geo Group announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, August 6th that allows the company to repurchase $300.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the real estate investment trust to purchase up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GEO. Jones Trading lowered their price target on Geo Group from $50.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Geo Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 16th. Zacks Research lowered Geo Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Geo Group in a research note on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.00.

About 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.