GeoPark (NYSE:GPRK) Cut to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of GeoPark (NYSE:GPRK) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Thursday.

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of GeoPark from $11.50 to $12.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday.

GeoPark Stock Performance

Shares of GPRK stock opened at $7.99 on Thursday. GeoPark has a one year low of $7.24 and a one year high of $11.25. The company’s 50-day moving average is $8.78 and its 200 day moving average is $9.59. The company has a market capitalization of $442.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.16.

GeoPark (NYSE:GPRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 14th. The oil and gas company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.30). GeoPark had a net margin of 14.28% and a return on equity of 60.77%. The firm had revenue of $190.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $182.74 million. Sell-side analysts expect that GeoPark will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GeoPark Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 29th were issued a dividend of $0.147 per share. This represents a $0.59 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.36%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 29th. GeoPark’s payout ratio is presently 28.43%.

Institutional Trading of GeoPark

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of GeoPark by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,246,617 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $35,550,000 after purchasing an additional 61,454 shares during the period. Carmignac Gestion lifted its stake in shares of GeoPark by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Carmignac Gestion now owns 1,118,884 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $9,589,000 after purchasing an additional 120,000 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in GeoPark by 3,251.7% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 379,483 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,139,000 after acquiring an additional 368,161 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new stake in GeoPark during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,929,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in GeoPark during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,261,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.21% of the company’s stock.

About GeoPark

GeoPark Limited engages in the exploration, development, and production of oil and gas reserves in Chile, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, and Ecuador. GeoPark Limited has a strategic partnership with ONGC Videsh to jointly acquire, invest in, and create value from upstream oil and gas projects across Latin America.