Federated Hermes Inc. Invests $647,000 in Geo Group Inc (The) (NYSE:GEO)

Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Geo Group Inc (The) (NYSE:GEO - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 22,148 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $647,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of GEO. AGP Franklin LLC bought a new stake in Geo Group during the first quarter valued at $211,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Geo Group in the 1st quarter worth about $555,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of Geo Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $296,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Geo Group by 210.9% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 78,619 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,296,000 after purchasing an additional 53,329 shares during the period. Finally, Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new stake in shares of Geo Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $929,000. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Geo Group Trading Down 6.0%

Shares of Geo Group stock opened at $21.52 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a PE ratio of 33.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.75. Geo Group Inc has a 52 week low of $11.75 and a 52 week high of $36.46. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $25.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 0.90.

Geo Group (NYSE:GEO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $636.17 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $621.55 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.23 EPS. Geo Group's revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Geo Group Inc will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Geo Group announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, August 6th that authorizes the company to repurchase $300.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the real estate investment trust to repurchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Jones Trading lowered their target price on Geo Group from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Geo Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $36.00 target price on shares of Geo Group in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Geo Group presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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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