Geo Group (NYSE:GEO) Shares Gap Up - What's Next?

Shares of Geo Group Inc (The) (NYSE:GEO - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $25.32, but opened at $27.14. Geo Group shares last traded at $26.62, with a volume of 1,252,019 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on GEO shares. Noble Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Geo Group in a research note on Monday, March 24th. UBS Group set a $35.00 target price on Geo Group in a report on Monday, March 24th. Wall Street Zen raised Geo Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $36.00 target price on shares of Geo Group in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Jones Trading dropped their target price on Geo Group from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $38.00.

Geo Group Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 137.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $26.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.92.

Geo Group (NYSE:GEO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $604.65 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $611.81 million. Geo Group had a net margin of 1.19% and a return on equity of 7.36%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.14 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Geo Group Inc will post 0.83 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GEO. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Geo Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $313,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Geo Group by 149.5% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,527 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 915 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in Geo Group by 182.6% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,148 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $88,000 after acquiring an additional 2,034 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in Geo Group by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 40,537 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,134,000 after acquiring an additional 1,289 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Geo Group in the fourth quarter worth about $2,994,000. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company's stock.

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.