Voya Investment Management LLC Trims Stake in Geo Group Inc (The) $GEO

Key Points

• Voya Investment Management LLC has reduced its stake in Geo Group Inc by 4.7%, now owning 0.19% of the company valued at $8 million.
• The company reported earnings of $0.22 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.16 per share, with revenues of $636.17 million for the quarter.
• Geo Group announced a $300 million share repurchase program, indicating confidence in its stock being undervalued.

Voya Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Geo Group Inc (The) (NYSE:GEO - Free Report) by 4.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 274,792 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 13,681 shares during the quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.19% of Geo Group worth $8,027,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of GEO. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Geo Group by 312.7% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,608,619 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $76,198,000 after buying an additional 1,976,544 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in 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 valued at $45,405,000 after buying an additional 32,060 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Geo Group by 5.8% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,256,194 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $36,693,000 after buying an additional 68,763 shares during the last quarter. Apis Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Geo Group by 194.3% during the first quarter. Apis Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,211,000 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $35,373,000 after buying an additional 799,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in Geo Group by 1.2% during the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,076,070 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $31,433,000 after buying an additional 12,560 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Geo Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GEO traded down $0.19 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $21.79. 3,778,796 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,506,482. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $22.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $25.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.52, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. Geo Group Inc has a one year low of $12.29 and a one year high of $36.46.

Geo Group (NYSE:GEO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.06. The firm 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 company's revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.23 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Geo Group Inc will post 0.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Geo Group declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, August 6th that permits the company to buyback $300.00 million in outstanding 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 plans are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on GEO shares. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $36.00 price objective on shares of Geo Group in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Jones Trading decreased their price target on Geo Group from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Geo Group has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $37.00.

Geo Group 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.