Vanguard Group Inc. Has $427.55 Million Stock Position in Geo Group Inc (The) $GEO

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in Geo Group by 1.1%, holding approximately 14.6 million shares valued at $427.55 million, representing about 10.38% of the company's stock.
• Institutional investors collectively own 76.10% of Geo Group's shares, with several funds, including Wells Fargo and Barclays, increasing their positions recently.
• Geo Group reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.22, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.16, and announced a share buyback plan worth $300 million, indicating confidence in the stock's valuation.

Vanguard Group Inc. decreased its position in Geo Group Inc (The) (NYSE:GEO - Free Report) by 1.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,637,222 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 169,545 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 10.38% of Geo Group worth $427,553,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Geo Group in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Geo Group in the first quarter valued at $58,000. Morse Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. AGP Franklin LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Geo Group in the first quarter valued at $211,000. Finally, Highland Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Geo Group in the first quarter valued at $210,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GEO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Geo Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Jones Trading cut 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. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $36.00 target price on shares of Geo Group in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $37.00.

Geo Group Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of Geo Group stock traded up $0.1650 on Wednesday, reaching $21.8850. 2,150,114 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,909,298. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $24.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. Geo Group Inc has a fifty-two week low of $11.75 and a fifty-two week high of $36.46.

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

Geo Group declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase 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 purchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's management 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.