JonesTrading Issues Positive Forecast for Geo Group (NYSE:GEO) Stock Price

Geo Group (NYSE:GEO) had its price target boosted by JonesTrading from $40.00 to $42.75 in a research report report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Noble Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Geo Group in a report on Monday, August 10th. Zacks Research upgraded Geo Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Geo Group in a research report on Friday, September 4th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Geo Group in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Geo Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Geo Group has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $41.38.

Geo Group Stock Performance

Shares of GEO stock opened at $25.15 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 1.65. Geo Group has a one year low of $12.51 and a one year high of $33.17. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.86, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.78.

Geo Group (NYSE:GEO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $761.06 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $770.87 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 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.25 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Geo Group will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

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 shares were sold at an average price of $31.45, for a total value of $371,015.65. Following the transaction, the vice president 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Ronald A. Brack sold 7,000 shares of Geo Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.00, for a total value of $224,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 71,614 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,291,648. The trade was a 8.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 28,797 shares of company stock worth $911,916. 4.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Geo Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GEO. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Geo Group in the second quarter valued at $570,744,000. Pentwater Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Geo Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $312,698,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in shares of Geo Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $118,673,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Geo Group by 141.8% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,895,780 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $118,704,000 after acquiring an additional 2,284,770 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Geo Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $23,825,000. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Geo Group

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

• Positive Sentiment: GEO reported Q3 adjusted earnings of $0.39 per share, above the $0.35 consensus and up from $0.25 a year earlier. Revenue rose 11.5% year over year. Zacks Q3 earnings report
• Positive Sentiment: Management forecast Q4 revenue of $777 million–$827 million and adjusted EBITDA of $149 million–$154 million, citing expanding ICE activations. That outlook points to continued demand supporting results. Q4 outlook and ICE activations
• Neutral Sentiment: Q3 revenue of about $761.1 million missed the roughly $770.9 million analyst estimate. The earnings beat and year-over-year growth are favorable, but the revenue shortfall may temper the reaction. Q3 revenue estimate comparison
• Negative Sentiment: For-profit prison operators face political and contract-renewal uncertainty after Democrats’ midterm gains, which could weigh on expectations for future ICE-related business. This is a longer-term risk rather than a change to the reported quarter. Political risk for prison stocks

Geo Group Company Profile

The GEO Group, Inc (NYSE: GEO) is a provider of correctional, detention and community-based services. The company develops and operates secure facilities for government agencies, offering services that can include facility management, housing, transportation, food services, medical care, education and rehabilitation programs.

GEO also provides reentry and community-based services designed to support individuals transitioning from incarceration. Through its electronic monitoring and supervision offerings, the company assists government and law-enforcement agencies with alternatives to secure detention, including GPS monitoring, case management and other post-release support services.

Founded in 1984 as Wackenhut Corrections Corporation, the company adopted the name The GEO Group in 2003.