GeoPark (NYSE:GPRK) Sets New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Shares of GeoPark Limited (NYSE:GPRK) reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $11.39 and last traded at $11.38, with a volume of 362814 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $10.41.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on GPRK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of GeoPark from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of GeoPark from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday.

GeoPark Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $564.29 million, a P/E ratio of 5.78 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $8.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $9.19.

GeoPark (NYSE:GPRK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $159.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.99 million. GeoPark had a return on equity of 57.93% and a net margin of 14.97%. As a group, research analysts forecast that GeoPark Limited will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

GeoPark Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.147 per share. This represents a $0.59 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.33%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. GeoPark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.95%.

Institutional Trading of GeoPark

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GPRK. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in GeoPark by 1.9% during 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 buying an additional 61,454 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in GeoPark by 3,251.7% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 379,483 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,139,000 after purchasing an additional 368,161 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of GeoPark by 77.4% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 366,380 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,883,000 after purchasing an additional 159,861 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC acquired a new stake in shares of GeoPark in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,834,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new position in shares of GeoPark in the second quarter valued at $2,929,000. Institutional investors own 68.21% of the company’s stock.

GeoPark Company Profile

GeoPark Limited operates as an oil and natural gas exploration and production company primarily in Chile, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, and other Latin American countries. It engages in the exploration, development, and production of oil and gas reserves. The company was formerly known as GeoPark Holdings Limited and changed its name to GeoPark Limited in July 2013.