Wedbush Issues Positive Forecast for The GEO Group (NYSE:GEO) Stock Price

The GEO Group (NYSE:GEO) had its price target hoisted by equities research analysts at Wedbush from $25.00 to $30.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Wedbush’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 22.20% from the company’s current price.

Separately, StockNews.com cut The GEO Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th.

The GEO Group Stock Performance

GEO stock traded up $0.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $24.55. The company had a trading volume of 1,811,457 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,590,137. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $14.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 94.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The GEO Group has a one year low of $9.09 and a one year high of $25.88.

The GEO Group (NYSE:GEO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $607.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $606.16 million. The GEO Group had a return on equity of 8.87% and a net margin of 1.92%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.24 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that The GEO Group will post 0.91 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at The GEO Group

In related news, Chairman George C. Zoley purchased 100,000 shares of The GEO Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $12.33 per share, with a total value of $1,233,000.00. Following the purchase, the chairman now owns 3,900,904 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,098,146.32. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 5.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of The GEO Group by 568.6% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 11,326 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $160,000 after purchasing an additional 9,632 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of The GEO Group by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 39,703 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $561,000 after purchasing an additional 1,197 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of The GEO Group by 11.4% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 247,745 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,498,000 after purchasing an additional 25,441 shares in the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its holdings in The GEO Group by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 106,826 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,508,000 after purchasing an additional 1,402 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in The GEO Group during the first quarter worth about $214,000. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

About The GEO Group

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.