Geo Group Inc (The) $GEO Shares Sold by LPL Financial LLC

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC decreased its stake in Geo Group by 43.3% during the first quarter, owning approximately 108,235 shares worth $3.16 million after selling 82,557 shares.
• Analysts have shown mixed ratings for Geo Group, with Wall Street Zen upgrading the stock from "sell" to "hold," while Wedbush set a price objective of $36.00 and Jones Trading adjusted theirs down to $45.00.
• The company announced a stock buyback program allowing for the repurchase of up to $300 million, indicating management's belief that the stock is undervalued.

LPL Financial LLC lowered its stake in shares of Geo Group Inc (The) (NYSE:GEO - Free Report) by 43.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 108,235 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 82,557 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Geo Group worth $3,162,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Geo Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $555,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of Geo Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $296,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Geo Group by 210.9% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 78,619 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,296,000 after purchasing an additional 53,329 shares during the period. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Geo Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $929,000. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Geo Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,963,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Jones Trading decreased their price target on shares of Geo Group from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Geo Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $36.00 price target on shares of Geo Group in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $37.00.

Geo Group Stock Down 3.1%

Shares of Geo Group stock traded down $0.6850 during trading on Thursday, hitting $21.1750. 2,522,274 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,902,545. The stock has a market cap of $3.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.75. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $24.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.39. Geo Group Inc has a 12-month low of $11.75 and a 12-month 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.

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

Geo Group announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, August 6th that permits the company to buyback $300.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the real estate investment trust to repurchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

About Geo Group

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.