Geo Group’s (GEO) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at JonesTrading

Geo Group (NYSE:GEO)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by equities researchers at JonesTrading in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $40.00 target price on the real estate investment trust’s stock. JonesTrading’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 33.74% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on GEO. Zacks Research upgraded Geo Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Geo Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 25th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Geo Group in a research note on Friday, September 4th. Northland Securities increased their target price on Geo Group from $30.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Noble Financial restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Geo Group in a research note on Monday, August 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Geo Group currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.00.

Geo Group Stock Down 7.5%

Shares of GEO stock traded down $2.43 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $29.91. 5,892,259 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,191,228. Geo Group has a 12-month low of $12.51 and a 12-month high of $33.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market cap of $3.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.11, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.77. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.37.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Geo Group news, VP Matthew Albence sold 11,797 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the vice president directly owned 87,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,755,082.90. This trade represents a 11.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ronald A. Brack sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.00, for a total value of $224,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 71,614 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,291,648. This trade represents a 8.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 28,797 shares of company stock valued at $911,916 in the last quarter. 4.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Geo Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Geo Group in the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Geo Group by 111.9% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,723 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 910 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its position in shares of Geo Group by 22.7% in the first quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 3,866 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 715 shares in the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Geo Group in the second quarter worth about $229,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LP bought a new position in Geo Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $250,000. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Key Geo Group News

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

• Positive Sentiment: $950 million Adelanto sale completed: GEO sold three California ICE facilities—Adelanto West, Adelanto East and Desert View Annex—with a combined capacity of 2,644 beds to the U.S. government and its assigns. The transaction provides substantial cash proceeds and reduces GEO’s direct ownership of those facilities. GEO Adelanto sale and repurchase authorization
• Positive Sentiment: Buyback authorization increased to $1.25 billion: GEO plans to use greater financial flexibility from the Adelanto transaction to support share repurchases. Buybacks could reduce the share count and increase per-share value if executed at attractive prices. GEO expands share buyback
• Positive Sentiment: Debt and liquidity actions: GEO announced the redemption of all $650 million of senior secured notes due 2029 and amended and extended its revolving credit facility. The changes may improve balance-sheet flexibility and support the enlarged repurchase program. GEO debt redemption and credit facility update
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst remains bullish: JonesTrading reaffirmed its “Buy” rating and set a $40 price target, implying approximately 32.6% upside from the referenced share price. JonesTrading GEO rating and price target
• Neutral Sentiment: Key investor trade-off: The transaction monetizes valuable real estate and creates capital-return capacity, but selling three facilities also removes associated assets and potential operating revenue. The stock’s pullback from its recent high suggests investors may be reassessing that trade-off.

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.