National Bank of Canada FI Has $31.43 Million Stock Holdings in Geo Group Inc (The) (NYSE:GEO)

Key Points

• National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in Geo Group Inc by 1.2% in the first quarter, owning 1,076,070 shares valued at approximately $31.43 million.
• Geo Group recently reported a quarterly EPS of $0.22, surpassing estimates, and announced a share buyback program allowing up to $300 million in repurchases.
• Analysts have varying ratings on the stock, with Jones Trading lowering the target price to $45 yet retaining a "buy" rating, while the average price target stands at $37.

National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in Geo Group Inc (The) (NYSE:GEO - Free Report) by 1.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,076,070 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 12,560 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI owned approximately 0.76% of Geo Group worth $31,433,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Geo Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Geo Group during the first quarter worth about $58,000. Morse Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in 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 valued at $189,000 after buying an additional 1,520 shares in the last quarter. AGP Franklin LLC purchased a new position in Geo Group in the first quarter valued at about $211,000. Finally, Highland Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Geo Group in the first quarter valued at about $210,000. 76.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on GEO shares. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $36.00 price target on shares of Geo Group in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Jones Trading dropped their price target on shares of Geo Group from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Geo Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Geo Group presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $37.00.

Geo Group Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of Geo Group stock traded up $0.42 during trading on Thursday, hitting $21.06. The stock had a trading volume of 1,429,047 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,103,574. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.80. The company has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a PE ratio of 32.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. Geo Group Inc has a 1 year low of $11.75 and a 1 year high of $36.46.

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

Geo Group declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, August 6th that authorizes the company to buyback $300.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the real estate investment trust to purchase up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.