Geo Group Inc (The) $GEO Stock Position Reduced by Philadelphia Financial Management of San Francisco LLC

Key Points

• Philadelphia Financial Management of San Francisco LLC reduced its stake in Geo Group Inc by 22.5% in the first quarter, now holding around $15.07 million worth of shares.
• Geo Group's Q2 earnings surpassed analysts' expectations, reporting $0.22 earnings per share on $636.17 million in revenue.
• The company's Board has authorized a $300 million stock buyback program, indicating management's belief that the stock is undervalued.

Philadelphia Financial Management of San Francisco LLC reduced its stake in Geo Group Inc (The) (NYSE:GEO - Free Report) by 22.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 515,749 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 149,948 shares during the quarter. Geo Group comprises approximately 3.0% of Philadelphia Financial Management of San Francisco LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Philadelphia Financial Management of San Francisco LLC owned approximately 0.36% of Geo Group worth $15,065,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Geo Group by 312.7% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,608,619 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $76,198,000 after purchasing an additional 1,976,544 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 1,422,676 shares during the last quarter. Newbrook Capital Advisors LP acquired a new position in Geo Group in the fourth quarter valued at $35,738,000. Apis Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Geo Group by 194.3% in the first quarter. Apis Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,211,000 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $35,373,000 after purchasing an additional 799,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Findell Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Geo Group during 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 Stock Up 7.7%

GEO traded up $1.65 on Thursday, reaching $22.95. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,678,187 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,064,303. The stock has a market cap of $3.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.75. Geo Group Inc has a 1 year low of $12.29 and a 1 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 business's 50 day moving average is $23.17 and its 200 day moving average is $25.77.

Geo Group (NYSE:GEO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 during 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%.Geo Group's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.23 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Geo Group Inc will post 0.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GEO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $36.00 price target on shares of Geo Group in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Jones Trading dropped 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target 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.