Geo Group (NYSE:GEO) Trading Down 10.1% - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Geo Group's stock price experienced a significant decline of 10.1%, dropping to $23.24, with trading volume increasing to over 6.6 million shares, a 119% rise from its average.
• Despite the recent downturn, analyst ratings remain mostly positive, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $38.00.
• The company reported earnings of $0.22 per share for the last quarter, surpassing expectations and demonstrating a year-over-year revenue increase of 4.8%.

Geo Group Inc (The) (NYSE:GEO - Get Free Report)'s stock price fell 10.1% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $23.38 and last traded at $23.24. 6,602,438 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 119% from the average session volume of 3,016,589 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.84.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GEO. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $36.00 price objective on shares of Geo Group in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Jones Trading cut their price objective on Geo Group from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Geo Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $38.00.

Geo Group Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 120.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.75. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $25.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Geo Group (NYSE:GEO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.06. Geo Group had a net margin of 1.19% and a return on equity of 7.36%. The firm had revenue of $636.17 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $621.55 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.23 earnings per share. Geo Group's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Geo Group Inc will post 0.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Geo Group

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Geo Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Twin Tree Management LP bought a new position in Geo Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new position in Geo Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Covestor Ltd boosted 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 acquiring an additional 438 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Militia Capital Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Geo Group during the first quarter worth $91,000. 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.

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