Geopark (NYSE:GPRK) Shares Cross Above 50 Day Moving Average - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• Geopark shares rose 1.6% and crossed above their 50-day moving average of $10.48, reaching $11.56 before trading near $11.47.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: the consensus rating is “Hold” with a $12.00 target price, despite Jefferies maintaining a “Buy” rating.
• Geopark beat quarterly EPS estimates, reporting $0.22 versus $0.12 expected, but revenue of $143.3 million fell short of forecasts. The company also paid a $0.023 quarterly dividend, while a director sold 120,000 shares.

Geopark Ltd (NYSE:GPRK - Get Free Report) shares passed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $10.48 and traded as high as $11.56. Geopark shares last traded at $11.4650, with a volume of 636,137 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Geopark in a report on Friday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $12.00 price objective on shares of Geopark in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Geopark from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $12.00.

Geopark Stock Up 1.6%

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $10.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.17. The company has a market capitalization of $592.86 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.80 and a beta of 0.45.

Geopark (NYSE:GPRK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.10. Geopark had a return on equity of 31.33% and a net margin of 16.00%.The business had revenue of $143.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $185.50 million.

Geopark Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th were issued a dividend of $0.0230 per share. This represents a $0.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 19th. Geopark's dividend payout ratio is currently 6.12%.

Insider Activity

In other Geopark news, Director James Park sold 120,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.65, for a total value of $1,158,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 792,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,643,938.70. This trade represents a 13.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Institutional Trading of Geopark

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Pale Fire Capital SE grew its holdings in Geopark by 194.4% in the 2nd quarter. Pale Fire Capital SE now owns 63,300 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $576,000 after buying an additional 41,800 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Geopark during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Ramsey Quantitative Systems purchased a new position in shares of Geopark during the 2nd quarter worth about $143,000. Flax Pond Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Geopark in the first quarter worth approximately $3,352,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Geopark by 13.8% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 31,504 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $299,000 after acquiring an additional 3,823 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.21% of the company's stock.

About Geopark

GeoPark Limited is an independent Latin American oil and natural gas exploration and production company. Its activities include identifying hydrocarbon resources, acquiring and developing exploration and production assets, drilling wells, and producing and selling crude oil and natural gas.

Founded in 2002, GeoPark has built a portfolio of operated and non-operated assets in several South American markets. The company has been particularly associated with oil and gas operations in Colombia's Llanos Basin and Brazil's onshore basins, while its broader history includes exploration and production activities in other Latin American countries.

GeoPark's operations generally encompass the full upstream process, including geological and seismic evaluation, field development, well drilling, production management, and the operation of related infrastructure.

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.