Boothbay Fund Management LLC Grows Holdings in Geo Group Inc (The) $GEO

Key Points

• Boothbay Fund Management LLC significantly increased its stake in Geo Group Inc by 413.5% in Q1, now owning about 0.16% of the company valued at $6.7 million.
• The board of Geo Group announced a $300 million share repurchase plan, indicating confidence in the company's stock value.
• Analysts have upgraded the stock to a consensus rating of "Buy" with a target price of $37.00, following a positive earnings report that exceeded expectations.

Boothbay Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in Geo Group Inc (The) (NYSE:GEO - Free Report) by 413.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 229,232 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 184,591 shares during the period. Boothbay Fund Management LLC owned about 0.16% of Geo Group worth $6,696,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GEO. Twin Tree Management LP acquired a new position in Geo Group in the first quarter valued at $39,000. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Geo Group in the first quarter worth $58,000. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Geo Group by 19.8% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,653 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares during the period. Morse Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Geo Group by 29.0% in the fourth quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 6,760 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $189,000 after purchasing an additional 1,520 shares during the period. Finally, Alamea Verwaltungs GmbH acquired a new stake in Geo Group in the first quarter worth $203,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company's stock.

Geo Group Price Performance

GEO traded up $0.02 during trading on Monday, reaching $20.65. 1,969,597 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,073,355. The company's 50-day moving average is $23.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.87. The company has a market cap of $2.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. Geo Group Inc has a 12-month low of $11.75 and a 12-month high of $36.46.

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

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $36.00 price objective on shares of Geo Group in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Jones Trading decreased their target price on Geo Group from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Geo Group has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus 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.