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

The GEO Group (NYSE:GEO) had its price objective hoisted by Northland Securities from $16.00 to $37.00 in a research report report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also commented on GEO. StockNews.com lowered The GEO Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of The GEO Group from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday.

The GEO Group Price Performance

Shares of GEO traded up $0.93 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $25.36. 8,126,852 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,619,187. The company has a market cap of $3.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 97.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.63. The GEO Group has a 1 year low of $9.09 and a 1 year high of $25.88. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $14.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36.

The GEO Group (NYSE:GEO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $607.19 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $606.16 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.24 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The GEO Group will post 0.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at The GEO Group

In other news, Chairman George C. Zoley acquired 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $12.33 per share, for a total transaction of $1,233,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chairman now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 5.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On The GEO Group

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GEO. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of The GEO Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,279,000. Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new stake in The GEO Group during the third quarter valued at about $630,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of The GEO Group during the third quarter valued at about $609,000. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $280,000 after buying an additional 4,800 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of The GEO Group by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 195,376 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,511,000 after acquiring an additional 20,962 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.