CoreCivic (NYSE:CXW) Shares Gap Up - Should You Buy?

CoreCivic, Inc. (NYSE:CXW - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $21.68, but opened at $22.70. CoreCivic shares last traded at $22.78, with a volume of 310,085 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on CXW shares. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $38.00 price objective on shares of CoreCivic in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of CoreCivic from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday.

CoreCivic Stock Down 2.0%

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $21.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 1.55. The stock has a market cap of $2.41 billion, a PE ratio of 29.07 and a beta of 0.77.

CoreCivic (NYSE:CXW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.10. CoreCivic had a return on equity of 5.75% and a net margin of 4.33%. The firm had revenue of $488.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $478.49 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.46 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that CoreCivic, Inc. will post 1.5 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at CoreCivic

In other CoreCivic news, EVP Lucibeth Mayberry sold 75,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.49, for a total transaction of $1,611,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 211,232 shares in the company, valued at $4,539,375.68. The trade was a 26.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Damon T. Hininger sold 72,246 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.50, for a total value of $1,625,535.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 879,324 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,784,790. The trade was a 7.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 184,246 shares of company stock valued at $4,061,215 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CoreCivic

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC purchased a new stake in CoreCivic during the first quarter valued at approximately $514,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its holdings in shares of CoreCivic by 29.3% during the 1st quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 79,527 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,614,000 after purchasing an additional 18,036 shares during the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CoreCivic during the 4th quarter valued at $361,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in shares of CoreCivic during the 4th quarter valued at $4,582,000. Finally, State of Tennessee Department of Treasury lifted its holdings in shares of CoreCivic by 65.5% during the 4th quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 48,999 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,065,000 after purchasing an additional 19,391 shares during the last quarter. 85.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About CoreCivic

CoreCivic, Inc owns and operates partnership correctional, detention, and residential reentry facilities in the United States. It operates through three segments: CoreCivic Safety, CoreCivic Community, and CoreCivic Properties. The company provides a range of solutions to government partners that serve the public good through corrections and detention management, a network of residential reentry centers to help address America's recidivism crisis, and government real estate solutions.