Geo Group Inc (The) (NYSE:GEO) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Geo Group Inc (NYSE:GEO) has received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from five research firms, with one hold and four buy ratings, and an average 1-year target price of $37.00.
• Institutional investors currently own 76.10% of Geo Group's stock, with significant increases in stakes from firms like Geneos Wealth Management and NewEdge Advisors in the second and first quarters of the year.
• The company reported a 4.8% year-over-year revenue increase and announced a $300 million stock repurchase program to buy back up to 8.2% of its outstanding shares, suggesting the board views the stock as undervalued.

Shares of Geo Group Inc (The) (NYSE:GEO - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the five research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $37.00.

Several research firms have commented on GEO. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $36.00 price objective on shares of Geo Group in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Geo Group in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Jones Trading dropped their price objective on Geo Group from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th.

Institutional Trading of Geo Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GEO. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Geo Group by 245.1% during the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,101 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 782 shares during the period. Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new stake in Geo Group in the 1st quarter valued at $39,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in Geo Group by 81.9% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,864 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 839 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Geo Group during the 1st quarter worth $58,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Geo Group by 19.8% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,653 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $77,000 after acquiring an additional 438 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company's stock.

Geo Group Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of Geo Group stock traded up $0.18 during trading on Friday, reaching $20.27. The stock had a trading volume of 1,803,487 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,994,247. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $21.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.31. Geo Group has a 52 week low of $13.20 and a 52 week high of $36.46. The company has a market capitalization of $2.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 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 (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 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%.The business's revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.23 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Geo Group will post 0.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Geo Group announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company's board of directors 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.

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