Geo Group (NYSE:GEO) Reaches New 52-Week High - What's Next?

Key Points

• GEO Group reached a new 52-week high, trading as high as $33.17 and closing around $32.42, with a market capitalization of approximately $4.26 billion.
• Analyst sentiment is generally positive: the stock carries a consensus “Buy” rating and a $40 average price target, while JonesTrading raised its target to $40 and Zacks upgraded the shares to “strong buy.”
• The company exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.37 in earnings per share and $732.1 million in revenue, though insiders sold 28,797 shares worth about $911,916 over the past three months.

Geo Group Inc (The) (NYSE:GEO - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week high on Monday. The company traded as high as $33.17 and last traded at $32.42, with a volume of 1074949 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $31.36.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on GEO shares. Noble Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Geo Group in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Geo Group in a research note on Friday, September 4th. JonesTrading upped their target price on shares of Geo Group from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. UBS Group reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Geo Group in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Geo Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Geo Group currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $40.00.

Geo Group Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $4.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.77. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $31.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 1.65.

Geo Group (NYSE:GEO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.08. Geo Group had a net margin of 10.31% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The company had revenue of $732.07 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $721.43 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.22 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Geo Group Inc will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Matthew Albence sold 11,797 shares of Geo Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.45, for a total transaction of $371,015.65. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 87,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,755,082.90. The trade was a 11.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ronald A. Brack sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.00, for a total value of $224,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 71,614 shares in the company, valued at $2,291,648. This represents a 8.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 28,797 shares of company stock valued at $911,916. Corporate insiders own 4.98% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Geo Group

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Geo Group in the second quarter valued at about $644,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in Geo Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $322,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP acquired a new stake in Geo Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $478,000. Corient Private Wealth LP acquired a new stake in Geo Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $250,000. Finally, AXQ Capital LP purchased a new stake in Geo Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $428,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company's stock.

About Geo Group

The GEO Group, Inc NYSE: GEO is a provider of correctional, detention and community-reentry services. The company designs, finances, develops and manages secure facilities for federal, state and local government agencies, as well as certain international government clients. Its facilities house individuals in pretrial detention, immigration detention and correctional programs.

GEO also provides correctional and behavioral healthcare, transportation and security services, and electronic monitoring technologies.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.