Geo Group (NYSE:GEO) Stock Keeps Buy Rating at JonesTrading

Geo Group (NYSE:GEO)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by analysts at JonesTrading in a research report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $40.00 price target on the real estate investment trust’s stock. JonesTrading’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 31.87% from the company’s previous close.

GEO has been the subject of a number of other reports. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Geo Group in a research note on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen lowered Geo Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 25th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Geo Group in a report on Friday, September 4th. Zacks Research upgraded Geo Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Northland Securities boosted their target price on shares of Geo Group from $30.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.00.

Geo Group Stock Performance

Geo Group stock traded down $2.01 on Tuesday, reaching $30.33. 1,604,413 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,172,202. The stock has a market cap of $3.99 billion, a PE ratio of 14.34, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $31.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.37. Geo Group has a twelve month low of $12.51 and a twelve month high of $33.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

Geo Group (NYSE:GEO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.08. Geo Group had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 10.31%.The business had revenue of $732.07 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $721.43 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.22 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Geo Group will post 1.31 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Geo Group

In other news, VP Matthew Albence sold 11,797 shares of Geo Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.45, for a total transaction of $371,015.65. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 87,602 shares in the company, valued at $2,755,082.90. The trade was a 11.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Ronald A. Brack sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.00, for a total transaction of $224,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 71,614 shares in the company, valued at $2,291,648. This trade represents a 8.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 28,797 shares of company stock worth $911,916. Company insiders own 4.98% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Geo Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GEO. Pentwater Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Geo Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $312,698,000. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Geo Group by 14.2% in the first quarter. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC now owns 5,314,006 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $89,328,000 after buying an additional 661,281 shares in the last quarter. Militia Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Geo Group during the first quarter worth $3,634,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in Geo Group during the second quarter worth $118,673,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in Geo Group during the second quarter worth $9,165,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Geo Group

Here are the key news stories impacting Geo Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: $950 million Adelanto facility sale: GEO completed the sale of three California ICE processing facilities totaling 2,644 beds to the U.S. government. The transaction monetizes the properties at a substantial value and provides cash that can be directed toward debt reduction and shareholder returns. GEO Adelanto facility sale announcement
• Positive Sentiment: Expanded share repurchase authorization: GEO increased its share buyback authorization to $1.25 billion. Repurchases could reduce the share count and support earnings per share, although the timing and amount of actual purchases remain uncertain. GEO expands share buyback
• Positive Sentiment: Debt refinancing and repayment: GEO delivered notice to redeem all of its senior secured notes due 2029, reportedly totaling approximately $650 million, and amended and extended its revolving credit facility. Retiring the notes could reduce interest expense and refinancing risk, while the revised credit facility preserves liquidity for operations and capital allocation. GEO debt redemption and credit facility announcement
• Neutral Sentiment: Portfolio implications: Selling Adelanto provides significant liquidity but also removes three operating facilities from GEO’s portfolio, potentially reducing future facility-related revenue and cash flow. The stock’s movement toward its 52-week high indicates investors are currently placing greater weight on the sale proceeds, buyback potential and balance-sheet improvement. GEO sells three facilities to ICE

Geo Group Company Profile

The GEO Group, Inc (NYSE: GEO) is a provider of correctional, detention and community-reentry services. The company designs, finances, develops and manages secure facilities for federal, state and local government agencies, as well as certain international government clients. Its facilities house individuals in pretrial detention, immigration detention and correctional programs.

GEO also provides correctional and behavioral healthcare, transportation and security services, and electronic monitoring technologies.