GeoPark Limited (NYSE:GPRK) Short Interest Up 33.5% in December

GeoPark Limited (NYSE:GPRK) saw a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,010,000 shares, a growth of 33.5% from the December 15th total of 756,700 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 520,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days. Approximately 2.7% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded GeoPark from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on GeoPark from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th.

GeoPark Stock Down 5.7 %

Shares of GPRK traded down $0.65 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $10.75. The company had a trading volume of 907,366 shares, compared to its average volume of 888,667. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53. GeoPark has a 52 week low of $7.24 and a 52 week high of $11.72. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $9.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.18. The stock has a market cap of $550.05 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.46 and a beta of 1.35.

GeoPark (NYSE:GPRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $159.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.99 million. GeoPark had a net margin of 14.97% and a return on equity of 57.93%. On average, equities research analysts predict that GeoPark will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

GeoPark Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were issued a $0.147 dividend. This represents a $0.59 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. GeoPark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.44%.

Institutional Trading of GeoPark

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GPRK. Employees Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in shares of GeoPark in the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Blue Trust Inc. bought a new position in shares of GeoPark during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of GeoPark during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of GeoPark by 392.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 8,974 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 7,151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DGS Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in GeoPark during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $148,000. 68.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.