Cetera Investment Advisers Has $598,000 Stake in Geo Group Inc (The) $GEO

Key Points

• Cetera Investment Advisers reduced its holdings in Geo Group Inc by 76.1%, now owning 20,481 shares after selling 65,182 shares in the first quarter.
• Analysts have mixed ratings for Geo Group, with a recent price target lowered from $50.00 to $45.00 by Jones Trading, and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $37.00.
• Geo Group's board authorized a $300 million share repurchase program, indicating confidence that the stock is undervalued.

Cetera Investment Advisers trimmed its position in shares of Geo Group Inc (The) (NYSE:GEO - Free Report) by 76.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,481 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 65,182 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers' holdings in Geo Group were worth $598,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GEO. NewEdge Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Geo Group in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Geo Group in the first quarter worth about $58,000. Morse Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,520 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC bought a new position in shares of Geo Group in the fourth quarter worth about $208,000. Finally, Highland Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Geo Group in the first quarter worth about $210,000. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Geo Group Trading Up 0.8%

GEO stock traded up $0.1650 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $21.8850. The company had a trading volume of 2,150,114 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,909,298. The business has a 50-day moving average of $24.12 and a 200-day moving average of $26.46. Geo Group Inc has a one year low of $11.75 and a one year high of $36.46. The stock has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a PE ratio of 33.67, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

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

Geo Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, August 6th that allows the company to repurchase $300.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the real estate investment trust to repurchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GEO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $36.00 target price on shares of Geo Group in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Jones Trading reduced their price target on Geo Group from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Geo Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock 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.