The GEO Group (NYSE:GEO) Shares Gap Up to $15.94

The GEO Group, Inc. (NYSE:GEO)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $15.94, but opened at $17.55. The GEO Group shares last traded at $17.55, with a volume of 1,194,634 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wedbush dropped their target price on shares of The GEO Group from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 8th.

The GEO Group Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $2.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $13.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.14.

The GEO Group (NYSE:GEO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.19 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $605.67 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $603.84 million. The GEO Group had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 4.51%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.22 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that The GEO Group, Inc. will post 1.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other The GEO Group news, Director Scott Michael Kernan sold 5,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.62, for a total value of $72,186.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,936 shares in the company, valued at approximately $326,008.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 5.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of The GEO Group

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of The GEO Group by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,012,341 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $32,624,000 after buying an additional 63,101 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of The GEO Group by 1,116.5% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,846,814 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $52,491,000 after buying an additional 4,448,385 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of The GEO Group by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,575,361 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $147,021,000 after buying an additional 58,184 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in shares of The GEO Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,161,000. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of The GEO Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $662,000. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.