CoreCivic (NYSE:CXW) Raised to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of CoreCivic (NYSE:CXW - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Saturday.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on CXW. Noble Financial upgraded shares of CoreCivic from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $30.00 price objective on shares of CoreCivic in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th.

CoreCivic Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of CoreCivic stock traded up $0.02 during trading on Friday, hitting $21.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 504,682 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,158,727. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.57. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.03. The company has a market capitalization of $2.39 billion, a PE ratio of 35.92 and a beta of 0.79. CoreCivic has a 52 week low of $10.74 and a 52 week high of $24.99.

CoreCivic (NYSE:CXW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $488.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $478.49 million. CoreCivic had a net margin of 3.51% and a return on equity of 5.97%. CoreCivic's quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.46 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that CoreCivic will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Anthony L. Grande sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.22, for a total transaction of $222,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 180,559 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,012,020.98. This trade represents a 5.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Patrick D. Swindle sold 23,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.39, for a total transaction of $514,970.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 241,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,410,095.70. The trade was a 8.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 180,246 shares of company stock valued at $3,974,455 in the last 90 days. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of CoreCivic

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of CoreCivic by 312.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 184,332 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,331,000 after acquiring an additional 139,631 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its holdings in shares of CoreCivic by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,513,031 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $32,893,000 after buying an additional 154,426 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of CoreCivic in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,477,000. Nebula Research & Development LLC purchased a new position in shares of CoreCivic in the fourth quarter worth approximately $361,000. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new position in shares of CoreCivic in the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,582,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.13% of the company's stock.

CoreCivic Company Profile

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.