Wedbush Issues Positive Forecast for The GEO Group (NYSE:GEO) Stock Price

The GEO Group (NYSE:GEO) had its target price hoisted by equities research analysts at Wedbush from $25.00 to $30.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Wedbush’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 22.20% from the stock’s current price.

Separately, StockNews.com cut The GEO Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th.

The GEO Group Trading Up 0.5 %

GEO stock traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $24.55. The stock had a trading volume of 1,811,457 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,590,137. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $14.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The firm has a market cap of $3.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.43, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.63. The GEO Group has a twelve month low of $9.09 and a twelve month high of $25.88.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman George C. Zoley purchased 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $48,098,146.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 5.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in The GEO Group by 131.8% during the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,037,881 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $14,904,000 after buying an additional 590,099 shares during the period. Center Lake Capital Management LLC increased its position in The GEO Group by 500.0% during the 1st quarter. Center Lake Capital Management LLC now owns 600,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,472,000 after buying an additional 500,000 shares during the period. Beaconlight Capital LLC bought a new position in The GEO Group during the 1st quarter worth $5,754,000. Great Lakes Advisors LLC increased its position in The GEO Group by 1,803.4% during the 2nd quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 312,508 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,488,000 after buying an additional 296,090 shares during the period. Finally, Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in The GEO Group during the 2nd quarter worth $3,906,000. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.