Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes Position in The GEO Group, Inc. (NYSE:GEO)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in The GEO Group, Inc. (NYSE:GEO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 107,003 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $2,994,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.08% of The GEO Group as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GEO. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of The GEO Group by 160.0% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,170 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 720 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of The GEO Group by 149.5% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,527 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 915 shares in the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of The GEO Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $67,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in shares of The GEO Group by 182.6% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,148 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 2,034 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its stake in The GEO Group by 6,800.0% during the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 4,140 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $116,000 after purchasing an additional 4,080 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GEO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Noble Financial reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of The GEO Group in a report on Monday, March 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of The GEO Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday. Jones Trading reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of The GEO Group in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of The GEO Group in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, UBS Group set a $35.00 price objective on The GEO Group in a research note on Monday, March 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, The GEO Group currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $41.00.

The GEO Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GEO traded down $0.05 during trading on Friday, reaching $31.50. The company had a trading volume of 1,243,961 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,812,154. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $28.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.97. The GEO Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $11.75 and a fifty-two week high of $36.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 108.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.78.

The GEO Group (NYSE:GEO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $607.72 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $607.45 million. The GEO Group had a net margin of 2.00% and a return on equity of 9.20%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The GEO Group, Inc. will post 0.83 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at The GEO Group

In other The GEO Group news, EVP Shayn P. March sold 7,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total transaction of $225,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 67,469 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,024,070. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 5.30% of the company's stock.

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.