The GEO Group Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:GEO)

The GEO Group, Inc. (NYSE:GEO - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock investors acquired 21,135 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 183% compared to the average volume of 7,478 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $15.00 target price on shares of The GEO Group in a research report on Thursday, March 21st.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in The GEO Group by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 21,900 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $237,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of The GEO Group by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 43,404 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $470,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in shares of The GEO Group by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 16,224 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $133,000 after purchasing an additional 1,096 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of The GEO Group by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 18,786 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,461 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in shares of The GEO Group by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 49,560 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $328,000 after purchasing an additional 1,650 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company's stock.

The GEO Group Stock Up 7.8 %

Shares of NYSE GEO traded up $1.10 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $15.15. 5,300,159 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,745,116. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.21. The GEO Group has a twelve month low of $6.94 and a twelve month high of $15.43. The company has a market cap of $1.92 billion, a PE ratio of 19.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.62. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $12.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.63.

The GEO Group (NYSE:GEO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $608.28 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $597.47 million. The GEO Group had a return on equity of 9.43% and a net margin of 4.72%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.58 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that The GEO Group will post 0.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About The 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.