Wellington Management Group LLP Grows Holdings in Geo Group Inc (The) $GEO

Key Points

• Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Geo Group by 312.7%, owning 2,608,619 shares valued at approximately $76.20 million as of the last quarter.
• Geo Group reported $0.22 earnings per share for its most recent quarter, surpassing the consensus estimate of $0.16, which indicates a year-over-year revenue increase of 4.8%.
• The company announced a $300 million share buyback plan that allows it to repurchase up to 8.2% of its outstanding shares, suggesting a belief that the stock is undervalued.

Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Geo Group Inc (The) (NYSE:GEO - Free Report) by 312.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,608,619 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 1,976,544 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned 1.85% of Geo Group worth $76,198,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Geo Group in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Geo Group in the first quarter valued at $58,000. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in Geo Group by 19.8% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,653 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,520 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AGP Franklin LLC bought a new stake in Geo Group in the first quarter valued at $211,000. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Geo Group Stock Down 1.5%

Geo Group stock traded down $0.31 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $20.50. 506,590 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,079,946. Geo Group Inc has a 52-week low of $11.75 and a 52-week high of $36.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.75. The business's 50-day moving average price is $23.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.20. 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 (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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.06. Geo Group had a net margin of 3.69% and a return on equity of 7.26%. The business 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 company earned $0.23 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, August 6th that authorizes the company to repurchase $300.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the real estate investment trust to repurchase up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.