Wedbush Reaffirms "Outperform" Rating for Geo Group (NYSE:GEO)

Geo Group (NYSE:GEO - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at Wedbush in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $36.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust's stock. Wedbush's price target would indicate a potential upside of 53.86% from the company's current price.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on GEO. UBS Group set a $35.00 price target on shares of Geo Group in a report on Monday, March 24th. Noble Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Geo Group in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Geo Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Jones Trading cut their price target on Geo Group from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Geo Group currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $38.00.

Geo Group Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of GEO traded up $0.12 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $23.40. The stock had a trading volume of 178,087 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,906,384. Geo Group has a 12 month low of $11.75 and a 12 month high of $36.46. The company has a market capitalization of $3.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 123.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.76. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Geo Group (NYSE:GEO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.04). Geo Group had a net margin of 1.19% and a return on equity of 7.36%. The company had revenue of $604.65 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $611.81 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.14 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Geo Group will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Geo Group

In other Geo Group news, EVP Shayn P. March sold 7,500 shares of the firm'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 owns 67,469 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,024,070. This trade represents a 10.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 4.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Geo Group

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. NewEdge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Geo Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Geo Group by 160.0% in the 4th 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. Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new stake in Geo Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $39,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Geo Group by 149.5% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Geo Group in the first quarter valued at about $58,000. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company's stock.

About 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.

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