Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on GeoPark (NYSE:GPRK)

GeoPark Limited (NYSE:GPRK) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 2,044 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 3,550% compared to the typical volume of 56 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of GeoPark from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of GeoPark from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday.

Institutional Trading of GeoPark

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GPRK. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in GeoPark by 3,251.7% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 379,483 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,139,000 after purchasing an additional 368,161 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC bought a new stake in GeoPark during the third quarter valued at $2,834,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of GeoPark during the second quarter valued at $2,929,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of GeoPark during the second quarter valued at $2,261,000. Finally, Deltec Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of GeoPark by 997.3% during the third quarter. Deltec Asset Management LLC now owns 131,678 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,036,000 after acquiring an additional 119,678 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.21% of the company’s stock.

GeoPark Stock Down 3.2 %

Shares of NYSE:GPRK opened at $10.87 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $8.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.21. The firm has a market cap of $555.89 million, a PE ratio of 5.52 and a beta of 1.37. GeoPark has a 12-month low of $7.24 and a 12-month high of $11.72.

GeoPark (NYSE:GPRK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.11). GeoPark had a net margin of 14.97% and a return on equity of 57.93%. The business had revenue of $159.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $156.99 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that GeoPark will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GeoPark Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.147 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $0.59 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.41%. GeoPark’s payout ratio is 29.44%.

About GeoPark

GeoPark Limited operates as an oil and natural gas exploration and production company primarily in Chile, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, and other Latin American countries. It engages in the exploration, development, and production of oil and gas reserves. The company was formerly known as GeoPark Holdings Limited and changed its name to GeoPark Limited in July 2013.