The GEO Group (NYSE:GEO) Shares Gap Down to $14.43

Shares of The GEO Group, Inc. (NYSE:GEO) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $14.43, but opened at $13.66. The GEO Group shares last traded at $13.35, with a volume of 874,695 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

The GEO Group Trading Down 7.3 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $13.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.73. The company has a market cap of $1.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.59.

The GEO Group (NYSE:GEO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.11. The company 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 earned $0.58 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The GEO Group, Inc. will post 1.01 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 transaction of $37,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 67,830 shares in the company, valued at $1,017,450. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 5.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On The GEO Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The GEO Group in the first quarter valued at $510,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in The GEO Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $214,000. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp grew its position in The GEO Group by 1.3% in the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 106,826 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,508,000 after buying an additional 1,402 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in The GEO Group by 11.4% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 247,745 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,498,000 after buying an additional 25,441 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of The GEO Group by 568.6% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 11,326 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $160,000 after buying an additional 9,632 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

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.