Northern Trust Corp Raises Stock Holdings in Geo Group Inc (The) $GEO

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Geo Group by 2.1%, owning approximately 1.10% of the company, valued at about $45.41 million.
• The company's quarterly earnings exceeded analysts' expectations, reporting an EPS of $0.22 and revenue of $636.17 million for the period.
• Geo Group has authorized a $300 million share repurchase plan, indicating management's belief that the stock is undervalued.

Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Geo Group Inc (The) (NYSE:GEO - Free Report) by 2.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,554,420 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 32,060 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned about 1.10% of Geo Group worth $45,405,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in GEO. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Geo Group by 202.6% in the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,124,783 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $59,451,000 after acquiring an additional 1,422,676 shares in the last quarter. Newbrook Capital Advisors LP purchased a new position in shares of Geo Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,738,000. BlueCrest Capital Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Geo Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,456,000. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Geo Group in the fourth quarter worth about $17,685,000. Finally, Findell Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Geo Group in the fourth quarter worth about $14,410,000. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Geo Group Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE GEO traded up $0.24 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $20.98. 3,207,946 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,639,785. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $23.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.01. 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 52 week low of $11.75 and a 52 week high of $36.46. The stock has a market cap of $2.97 billion, a PE ratio of 32.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.75.

Geo Group (NYSE:GEO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $636.17 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $621.55 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.23 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Geo Group Inc will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Geo Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, August 6th that authorizes the company to buyback $300.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the real estate investment trust to purchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.