The GEO Group Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:GEO)

The GEO Group, Inc. (NYSE:GEO) was the target of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Investors bought 11,828 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 52% compared to the typical volume of 7,786 call options.

The GEO Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GEO traded down $0.35 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $14.72. The stock had a trading volume of 1,011,813 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,676,980. The business’s fifty day moving average is $13.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.21. The company has a market cap of $1.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.84, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.62. The GEO Group has a twelve month low of $6.94 and a twelve month high of $16.31.

The GEO Group (NYSE:GEO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $608.28 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $597.47 million. The GEO Group had a return on equity of 9.43% and a net margin of 4.72%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.58 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that The GEO Group will post 1.01 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at The GEO Group

In related news, CFO Shayn P. March sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.00, for a total value of $37,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 67,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,017,450. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 5.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in The GEO Group by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,575,361 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $147,021,000 after acquiring an additional 58,184 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of The GEO Group by 1,116.5% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,846,814 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $52,491,000 after purchasing an additional 4,448,385 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of The GEO Group by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,012,341 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $32,624,000 after purchasing an additional 63,101 shares during the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of The GEO Group during the fourth quarter worth $32,230,000. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of The GEO Group during the third quarter worth $11,113,000. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wedbush upped their target price on The GEO Group from $15.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th.

About The GEO Group

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.