Harber Asset Management LLC Increases Holdings in Geo Group Inc (The) $GEO

Key Points

• Harber Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Geo Group Inc by 6.9%, acquiring an additional 12,835 shares, which now represents 2.1% of its portfolio.
• Geo Group's Board of Directors has initiated a $300 million share buyback plan, indicating management's belief that the shares are undervalued.
• The company reported better than expected quarterly earnings with $0.22 earnings per share, surpassing analysts' forecasts of $0.16.

Harber Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Geo Group Inc (The) (NYSE:GEO - Free Report) by 6.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 197,665 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 12,835 shares during the quarter. Geo Group accounts for about 2.1% of Harber Asset Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Harber Asset Management LLC owned about 0.14% of Geo Group worth $5,774,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GEO. NewEdge Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Geo Group during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Geo Group during the first quarter worth about $58,000. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Geo Group by 19.8% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,653 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Geo Group by 29.0% during the fourth quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 6,760 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $189,000 after buying an additional 1,520 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AGP Franklin LLC bought a new position in Geo Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company's stock.

Geo Group Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of Geo Group stock traded up $0.06 on Wednesday, hitting $21.04. 1,955,132 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,082,719. Geo Group Inc has a one year low of $11.75 and a one 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 fifty day moving average of $23.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.01. The company has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.75.

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 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 the consensus estimate of $621.55 million. Geo Group had a return on equity of 7.26% and a net margin of 3.69%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.23 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Geo Group Inc will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Geo Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program 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 buy up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on GEO shares. 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. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $36.00 price target on shares of Geo Group in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised 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, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus 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.