MYDA Advisors LLC Acquires New Stake in Geo Group Inc (The) $GEO

Key Points

• MYDA Advisors LLC has invested approximately $4.38 million in Geo Group Inc by acquiring 150,000 shares, making it the fund's 22nd largest position.
• Geo Group's quarterly earnings surpassed estimates, reporting an EPS of $0.22 compared to the consensus estimate of $0.16, alongside a revenue of $636.17 million.
• The company announced a $300 million stock buyback plan to repurchase up to 8.2% of its shares, indicating management's belief that the stock may be undervalued.

MYDA Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Geo Group Inc (The) (NYSE:GEO - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 150,000 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $4,382,000. Geo Group makes up about 0.8% of MYDA Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. MYDA Advisors LLC owned 0.11% of Geo Group at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Continental General Insurance Co. acquired a new position in Geo Group in the first quarter worth about $11,184,000. FORA Capital LLC bought a new position in Geo Group in the first quarter worth about $733,000. Anson Funds Management LP bought a new position in Geo Group in the first quarter worth about $1,668,000. Quantitative Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Geo Group in the first quarter worth about $659,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC lifted its holdings in Geo Group by 18.4% in the first quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 13,840 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $404,000 after acquiring an additional 2,154 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GEO. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $36.00 target price on shares of Geo Group in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Geo Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Jones Trading cut their target price on shares of Geo Group from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Geo Group presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $37.00.

Geo Group Stock Performance

Shares of GEO traded down $0.40 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $20.35. 1,631,278 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,079,296. The business's 50-day moving average price is $23.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 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 12 month low of $11.75 and a 12 month 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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.06. The company 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.23 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Geo Group Inc will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Geo Group announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, August 6th that allows the company to buyback $300.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the real estate investment trust to reacquire up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.