Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Geo Group (NYSE:GEO)

Geo Group Inc (The) (NYSE:GEO) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 21,714 call options on the company. This is an increase of 186% compared to the average volume of 7,580 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Geo Group

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. South Dakota Investment Council lifted its stake in shares of Geo Group by 454.0% in the second quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 138,500 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,317,000 after buying an additional 113,500 shares in the last quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Geo Group by 58.1% in the 2nd quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 448,374 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $10,739,000 after acquiring an additional 164,760 shares during the last quarter. Sciencast Management LP bought a new position in Geo Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $489,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in Geo Group by 15.8% in the 2nd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 281,264 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,736,000 after acquiring an additional 38,275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Geo Group by 53.9% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 127,483 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,724,000 after purchasing an additional 44,649 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on GEO. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Geo Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 13th. Jones Trading decreased their price target on shares of Geo Group from $50.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Zacks Research cut Geo Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Geo Group in a report on Monday. Three 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Geo Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.00.

Geo Group Stock Up 1.3%

GEO traded up $0.21 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $16.42. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 711,587 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,769,436. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.66 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Geo Group has a 1 year low of $14.27 and a 1 year high of $36.46. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $16.23 and its 200-day moving average is $20.44.

Geo Group (NYSE:GEO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, September 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $565.42 million during the quarter. Geo Group had a net margin of 9.41% and a return on equity of 7.42%. Geo Group has set its FY22 guidance at $2.40-2.46 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Geo Group will post 0.83 EPS for the current year.

Geo Group Company Profile

The GEO Group (NYSE:GEO) is a leading provider of correctional, detention and community reentry services to government agencies around the world. As a real estate investment trust, the company specializes in the design, financing, development and operation of secure facilities for adult and juvenile offenders, immigration detainees and individuals requiring mental health treatment or substance abuse programming. GEO’s integrated service model also encompasses electronic monitoring, rehabilitative programming and post-release supervision aimed at reducing recidivism and enhancing public safety.

GEO’s portfolio spans a range of facility types, including medium- and maximum-security correctional institutions, residential reentry centers, mental health treatment units and immigration detention centers.