Geopark (NYSE:GPRK) Stock Jumps 3.8% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Geopark shares rose 3.8% to $11.53, although trading volume was 87% below the stock’s average daily volume.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: Geopark has an average “Hold” rating and a consensus price target of $12.00, with one Buy and two Hold ratings.
• The company beat quarterly earnings expectations with $0.22 in EPS versus $0.12 estimated, but revenue of $143.3 million fell short of the $185.5 million consensus forecast. Geopark also pays a quarterly dividend equivalent to a 0.8% annual yield.

Geopark Ltd (NYSE:GPRK - Get Free Report)'s share price rose 3.8% during trading on Thursday. The company traded as high as $11.51 and last traded at $11.53. Approximately 103,830 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 788,705 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.11.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GPRK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $12.00 price objective on shares of Geopark in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered Geopark from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Geopark in a research report on Friday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Geopark presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $12.00.

Geopark Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $596.22 million, a P/E ratio of 7.84 and a beta of 0.45. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.00.

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

Geopark Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th were given a dividend of $0.0230 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $0.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Geopark's dividend payout ratio is presently 6.12%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director James Park sold 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.92, for a total transaction of $1,192,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 692,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,250,046.56. The trade was a 12.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Geopark

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in Geopark by 21.2% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,309,031 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $31,436,000 after acquiring an additional 578,178 shares in the last quarter. Aventail Capital Group LP bought a new position in shares of Geopark during the fourth quarter valued at $3,164,000. Flax Pond Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Geopark in the 1st quarter worth about $3,352,000. Sycale Advisors NY LLC purchased a new position in shares of Geopark in the 1st quarter worth about $3,222,000. Finally, Banco BTG Pactual S.A. boosted its stake in Geopark by 132.4% in the 4th quarter. Banco BTG Pactual S.A. now owns 185,884 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $1,377,000 after purchasing an additional 105,884 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.21% of the company's stock.

Geopark Company Profile

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.

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