GeoPark Limited (NYSE:GPRK) Short Interest Down 12.2% in March

GeoPark Limited (NYSE:GPRK) saw a large decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 469,900 shares, a decrease of 12.2% from the February 29th total of 535,300 shares. Currently, 1.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 372,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.3 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GPRK. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in shares of GeoPark in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. purchased a new position in GeoPark during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. NBC Securities Inc. grew its stake in GeoPark by 480.0% during the 4th quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 5,800 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 4,800 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in GeoPark by 1,147.8% during the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,205 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 3,868 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA purchased a new position in GeoPark during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $54,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.21% of the company’s stock.

GeoPark Trading Up 0.5 %

GPRK traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $9.70. 507,034 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 380,551. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $8.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.25. GeoPark has a 1-year low of $8.05 and a 1-year high of $12.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.10. The company has a market cap of $544.36 million, a PE ratio of 5.00 and a beta of 1.30.

GeoPark (NYSE:GPRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 6th. The oil and gas company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by ($0.17). The company had revenue of $199.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $212.54 million. GeoPark had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 84.10%. Equities analysts forecast that GeoPark will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

GeoPark Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 20th were given a $0.136 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 19th. This represents a $0.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.61%. This is a positive change from GeoPark’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. GeoPark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on GeoPark from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $13.67.

GeoPark Company Profile

GeoPark Limited engages in the exploration, development, and production of oil and gas reserves in Chile, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, and Ecuador. GeoPark Limited has a strategic partnership with ONGC Videsh to jointly acquire, invest in, and create value from upstream oil and gas projects across Latin America.