Anson Funds Management LP Purchases Shares of 57,100 Geo Group Inc (The) $GEO

Key Points

• Anson Funds Management LP has acquired a new stake in Geo Group Inc, purchasing 57,100 shares valued at approximately $1.67 million during the first quarter.
• In Q2 earnings, Geo Group reported $0.22 earnings per share, exceeding expectations and demonstrating a 4.8% revenue increase year-over-year.
• Geo Group has initiated a $300 million stock repurchase program, allowing buybacks of up to 8.2% of its shares, indicating company confidence in its stock valuation.

Anson Funds Management LP acquired a new stake in Geo Group Inc (The) (NYSE:GEO - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 57,100 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $1,668,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GEO. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Geo Group by 312.7% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,608,619 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $76,198,000 after buying an additional 1,976,544 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Geo Group by 202.6% during the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,124,783 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $59,451,000 after purchasing an additional 1,422,676 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Geo Group by 2.1% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,554,420 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $45,405,000 after purchasing an additional 32,060 shares during the last quarter. Newbrook Capital Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Geo Group during the fourth quarter worth about $35,738,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Geo Group by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,256,194 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $36,693,000 after purchasing an additional 68,763 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Geo Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GEO opened at $21.3590 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $23.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.33. Geo Group Inc has a 1-year low of $11.75 and a 1-year high of $36.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The company has a market cap of $3.02 billion, a PE ratio of 32.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.75.

Geo Group (NYSE:GEO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.06. Geo Group had a net margin of 3.69% and a return on equity of 7.26%. The company had revenue of $636.17 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $621.55 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.23 EPS. Geo Group's revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Geo Group Inc will post 0.83 EPS for the current year.

Geo Group declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, August 6th that permits the company to buyback $300.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the real estate investment trust to purchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jones Trading dropped their price target on Geo Group from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $36.00 target price on shares of Geo Group in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Geo Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Geo Group presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $37.00.

Geo Group Company Profile

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.

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