Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes $662,000 Position in The GEO Group, Inc. (NYSE:GEO)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of The GEO Group, Inc. (NYSE:GEO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 61,100 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $662,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Byrne Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in The GEO Group by 47.8% in the fourth quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 6,800 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares during the period. Privium Fund Management UK Ltd acquired a new stake in The GEO Group in the third quarter worth $109,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of The GEO Group during the third quarter valued at about $116,000. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC acquired a new position in shares of The GEO Group during the third quarter valued at about $123,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of The GEO Group during the third quarter valued at about $127,000. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

The GEO Group Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE GEO traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $15.03. 1,643,272 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,664,219. The stock has a market cap of $1.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.78, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.62. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $11.51. The GEO Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $6.94 and a 1-year high of $16.31. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 last year, the firm earned $0.58 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that The GEO Group, Inc. will post 1.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at The GEO Group

In related news, CFO Shayn P. March sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.00, for a total transaction of $37,500.00. Following the transaction, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 5.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

The GEO Group Company Profile

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.