CoreCivic (NYSE:CXW) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Strong-Buy Rating

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen has upgraded CoreCivic (NYSE:CXW) from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating, reflecting increased analyst confidence in the company's performance.
• The stock has a market capitalization of $2.23 billion and an average price target of $33.33 based on insights from several analysts.
• CoreCivic reported a 9.8% year-over-year revenue increase in its latest quarterly earnings, with an EPS of $0.59, surpassing analysts' estimates of $0.43.

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of CoreCivic (NYSE:CXW - Free Report) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Saturday.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $38.00 price target on shares of CoreCivic in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Jones Trading reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of CoreCivic in a report on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CoreCivic presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $33.33.

CoreCivic Stock Performance

CXW stock traded down $0.31 during trading on Friday, hitting $20.20. 895,588 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,121,533. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $20.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.60. The company has a market cap of $2.16 billion, a PE ratio of 21.48 and a beta of 0.80. CoreCivic has a 1 year low of $12.13 and a 1 year high of $24.99.

CoreCivic (NYSE:CXW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $538.17 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $499.02 million. CoreCivic had a return on equity of 7.12% and a net margin of 5.21%. CoreCivic's quarterly revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that CoreCivic will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CoreCivic news, CEO Damon T. Hininger sold 72,246 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.50, for a total value of $1,625,535.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 879,324 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,784,790. This trade represents a 7.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Stacia Hylton sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.69, for a total value of $86,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 82,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,799,597.61. The trade was a 4.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 184,246 shares of company stock valued at $4,061,215 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of CoreCivic

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CoreCivic in the first quarter worth approximately $514,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its stake in shares of CoreCivic by 29.3% in the first quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 79,527 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,614,000 after acquiring an additional 18,036 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CoreCivic by 2.3% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 547,061 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $11,100,000 after acquiring an additional 12,374 shares during the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CoreCivic in the fourth quarter worth approximately $361,000. Finally, State of Tennessee Department of Treasury boosted its stake in shares of CoreCivic by 65.5% in the fourth quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 48,999 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,065,000 after acquiring an additional 19,391 shares during the last quarter. 85.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About CoreCivic

CoreCivic, Inc owns and operates partnership correctional, detention, and residential reentry facilities in the United States. It operates through three segments: CoreCivic Safety, CoreCivic Community, and CoreCivic Properties. The company provides a range of solutions to government partners that serve the public good through corrections and detention management, a network of residential reentry centers to help address America's recidivism crisis, and government real estate solutions.