CoreCivic (NYSE:CXW) Earns "Buy" Rating from Jones Trading

Key Points

• CoreCivic's stock received a **"buy" rating** from Jones Trading, with a price target of **$30.00**, indicating a potential upside of nearly **50%** from its previous close.
• The company has a **consensus rating of "Moderate Buy"**, with an average target price of **$33.33** among analysts, despite some recent downgrades from other firms.
• CoreCivic recently reported **earnings that exceeded estimates**, posting a net income of **$0.59 EPS** and a revenue of **$538.17 million**, marking a **9.8% year-over-year increase**.

Jones Trading restated their buy rating on shares of CoreCivic (NYSE:CXW - Free Report) in a research report report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Jones Trading currently has a $30.00 target price on the real estate investment trust's stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on CXW. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $38.00 target price on shares of CoreCivic in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of CoreCivic from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $33.33.

CoreCivic Stock Performance

NYSE:CXW traded down $0.30 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $20.20. The company's stock had a trading volume of 53,927 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,115,836. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $20.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.68. The stock has a market cap of $2.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.50 and a beta of 0.80. CoreCivic has a 12-month low of $12.13 and a 12-month high of $24.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

CoreCivic (NYSE:CXW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $538.17 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $499.02 million. CoreCivic had a return on equity of 7.12% and a net margin of 5.21%. CoreCivic's quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that CoreCivic will post 1.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at CoreCivic

In related news, EVP Anthony L. Grande sold 10,000 shares of CoreCivic stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.22, for a total value of $222,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 180,559 shares in the company, valued at $4,012,020.98. The trade was a 5.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Patrick D. Swindle sold 23,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.39, for a total value of $514,970.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 241,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,410,095.70. This represents a 8.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 184,246 shares of company stock valued at $4,061,215 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of CoreCivic

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CXW. CWM LLC lifted its position in CoreCivic by 80.1% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,186 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 972 shares during the last quarter. Copia Wealth Management acquired a new position in CoreCivic in the fourth quarter valued at $82,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of CoreCivic by 86,300.0% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 4,320 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 4,315 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of CoreCivic by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,156 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $105,000 after acquiring an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of CoreCivic by 215.6% during the 1st quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 5,337 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 3,646 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.13% of the company's stock.

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.