233,701 Shares of Geo Group Inc (The) $GEO Purchased by Bank of America Corp DE

Key Points

• Bank of America acquired 233,701 GEO shares worth approximately $6.9 million in the second quarter, representing about 0.18% of the company. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 76.1% of GEO.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with an overall “Buy” rating and an average price target of $40. Several firms recently raised their targets, although Wall Street Zen downgraded the stock to “Hold.”
• GEO exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.37 in EPS versus a $0.29 consensus estimate and $732.1 million in revenue, up 15.1% year over year. Shares opened at $31.22, near their 12-month high of $33.15.

Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Geo Group Inc (The) (NYSE:GEO - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 233,701 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $6,906,000. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 0.18% of Geo Group as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Geo Group in the second quarter worth approximately $570,744,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in Geo Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $118,673,000. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC lifted its holdings in Geo Group by 14.2% in the 1st quarter. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC now owns 5,314,006 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $89,328,000 after purchasing an additional 661,281 shares in the last quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Geo Group by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 3,743,180 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $62,923,000 after purchasing an additional 256,265 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in Geo Group during the 2nd quarter worth $47,605,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GEO. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Geo Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. JonesTrading increased their price objective on shares of Geo Group from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. UBS Group reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Geo Group in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Zacks Research upgraded Geo Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Northland Securities upped their price target on Geo Group from $30.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $40.00.

Geo Group Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of GEO stock opened at $31.22 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. Geo Group Inc has a twelve month low of $12.51 and a twelve month high of $33.15. The company's 50-day moving average price is $31.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.68. The stock has a market cap of $4.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.72, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.78.

Geo Group (NYSE:GEO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $732.07 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $721.43 million. Geo Group had a net margin of 10.31% and a return on equity of 10.42%. Geo Group's quarterly revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.22 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Geo Group Inc will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Ronald A. Brack sold 7,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.00, for a total transaction of $224,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 71,614 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,291,648. This trade represents a 8.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Matthew Albence sold 11,797 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.45, for a total value of $371,015.65. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 87,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,755,082.90. The trade was a 11.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 28,797 shares of company stock valued at $911,916. Company insiders own 4.98% of the company's stock.

Geo Group Profile

The GEO Group, Inc NYSE: GEO is a provider of correctional, detention, reentry and community-based services. The company designs, develops, finances and manages secure facilities for government agencies, including correctional institutions, immigration detention centers and other custodial facilities.

GEO also provides electronic monitoring and community supervision services, including location monitoring, case management and related technologies. Through its reentry services, the company operates residential centers and programs intended to support individuals transitioning from incarceration to community living, employment and other post-release services.

Founded in 1984 as Wackenhut Corrections Corporation, the company adopted the name The GEO Group in 2003.

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