The GEO Group, Inc. (NYSE:GEO) Short Interest Down 8.7% in September

The GEO Group, Inc. (NYSE:GEO) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 5,380,000 shares, a decline of 8.7% from the September 15th total of 5,890,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,200,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman George C. Zoley acquired 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $12.33 per share, with a total value of $1,233,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 3,900,904 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,098,146.32. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 5.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On The GEO Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of The GEO Group by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 35,525 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $510,000 after purchasing an additional 862 shares during the period. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of The GEO Group by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 11,096 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $143,000 after purchasing an additional 919 shares during the period. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of The GEO Group by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 100,735 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,447,000 after purchasing an additional 1,098 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of The GEO Group by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 39,703 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $561,000 after purchasing an additional 1,197 shares during the period. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its holdings in shares of The GEO Group by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 106,826 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,508,000 after purchasing an additional 1,402 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

The GEO Group Price Performance

NYSE:GEO traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $15.15. The stock had a trading volume of 2,649,586 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,441,781. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. The GEO Group has a 52 week low of $8.19 and a 52 week high of $18.05. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $13.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $14.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.12 billion, a PE ratio of 58.23, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.65.

The GEO Group (NYSE:GEO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.02). The GEO Group had a return on equity of 8.87% and a net margin of 1.92%. The firm had revenue of $607.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $606.16 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.24 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The GEO Group will post 0.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded The GEO Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $17.00 target price on shares of The GEO Group in a research note on Thursday, September 19th.

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.