River Road Asset Management LLC Purchases New Position in The GEO Group, Inc. (NYSE:GEO)

River Road Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of The GEO Group, Inc. (NYSE:GEO - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 2,976,023 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $32,230,000. River Road Asset Management LLC owned approximately 2.36% of The GEO Group as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The GEO Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Advisory Services Network LLC boosted its position in The GEO Group by 203.2% in the first quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 4,326 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 2,899 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in The GEO Group in the first quarter valued at about $35,000. Clear Street Markets LLC acquired a new position in The GEO Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in The GEO Group by 104.9% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 5,857 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 2,998 shares in the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Shayn P. March sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.00, for a total transaction of $37,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 67,830 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,017,450. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 5.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

The GEO Group Price Performance

Shares of GEO stock traded down $0.19 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $14.99. 3,289,287 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,720,126. The GEO Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $6.94 and a fifty-two week high of $16.31. The stock's fifty day moving average is $13.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.14. The company has a market cap of $1.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.62. 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 (NYSE:GEO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.11. The GEO Group had a net margin of 4.72% and a return on equity of 9.43%. The company had revenue of $608.28 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $597.47 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.58 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that The GEO Group, Inc. will post 1.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of The GEO Group from $15.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th.

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.