The GEO Group (NYSE:GEO) Shares Up 6.9% – Should You Buy?

The GEO Group, Inc. (NYSE:GEO)’s stock price was up 6.9% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $15.19 and last traded at $15.16. Approximately 790,386 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 67% from the average daily volume of 2,431,646 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.18.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

The GEO Group Trading Up 42.1 %

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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $14.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $14.09.

The GEO Group (NYSE:GEO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.23 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $607.19 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $606.16 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.24 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that The GEO Group, Inc. will post 0.91 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at The GEO Group

In other news, Chairman George C. Zoley bought 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $12.33 per share, with a total value of $1,233,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chairman now owns 3,900,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,098,146.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 5.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On The GEO Group

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL boosted its holdings in The GEO Group by 27.9% in the third quarter. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL now owns 22,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $280,000 after purchasing an additional 4,800 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of The GEO Group by 12.0% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 195,376 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,511,000 after buying an additional 20,962 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of The GEO Group during the third quarter worth approximately $604,000. Tyler Stone Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of The GEO Group by 98.8% in the third quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 12,284 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $158,000 after buying an additional 6,105 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in The GEO Group in the third quarter valued at $157,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

The GEO Group Company Profile

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.