The GEO Group (NYSE:GEO) Shares Down 4.9% – What’s Next?

The GEO Group, Inc. (NYSE:GEO)’s stock price traded down 4.9% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $29.29 and last traded at $29.51. 1,377,757 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 54% from the average session volume of 3,013,622 shares. The stock had previously closed at $31.01.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Noble Financial cut The GEO Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of The GEO Group in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Northland Securities increased their target price on shares of The GEO Group from $16.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th.

The GEO Group Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market cap of $4.20 billion, a PE ratio of 103.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.87. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $29.45 and its 200 day moving average is $20.18.

The GEO Group (NYSE:GEO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $603.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $611.69 million. The GEO Group had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 2.00%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.19 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The GEO Group, Inc. will post 0.83 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP acquired a new position in The GEO Group during the second quarter worth about $1,314,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of The GEO Group by 352.4% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 100,425 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,442,000 after buying an additional 78,225 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of The GEO Group by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 110,649 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,589,000 after buying an additional 4,759 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in The GEO Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $234,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in The GEO Group by 16.6% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 23,177 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $333,000 after acquiring an additional 3,295 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About The 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.