GeoPark (NYSE:GPRK) Cut to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of GeoPark (NYSE:GPRK) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report released on Monday.

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of GeoPark from $11.50 to $12.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th.

GeoPark Stock Up 0.6 %

GeoPark stock opened at $8.20 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $453.69 million, a P/E ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.16. GeoPark has a fifty-two week low of $7.24 and a fifty-two week high of $11.25. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.38.

GeoPark (NYSE:GPRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 14th. The oil and gas company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.30). The firm had revenue of $190.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $182.74 million. GeoPark had a net margin of 14.28% and a return on equity of 60.77%. Equities research analysts expect that GeoPark will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current year.

GeoPark Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 29th were issued a $0.147 dividend. This represents a $0.59 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.17%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 29th. GeoPark’s payout ratio is currently 28.43%.

Institutional Trading of GeoPark

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GPRK. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in GeoPark by 3,251.7% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 379,483 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,139,000 after purchasing an additional 368,161 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new position in shares of GeoPark during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,929,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of GeoPark in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,261,000. Deltec Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of GeoPark by 997.3% in the third quarter. Deltec Asset Management LLC now owns 131,678 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,036,000 after buying an additional 119,678 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Annex Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in GeoPark by 137.3% during the third quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 128,750 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,013,000 after acquiring an additional 74,485 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.21% of the company’s stock.

About GeoPark

GeoPark Limited operates as an oil and natural gas exploration and production company primarily in Chile, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, and other Latin American countries. It engages in the exploration, development, and production of oil and gas reserves. The company was formerly known as GeoPark Holdings Limited and changed its name to GeoPark Limited in July 2013.