The GEO Group Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:GEO)

The GEO Group, Inc. (NYSE:GEO) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Traders acquired 11,828 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 52% compared to the average volume of 7,786 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of The GEO Group from $15.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Shayn P. March sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.00, for a total transaction of $37,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 67,830 shares in the company, valued at $1,017,450. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 5.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of The GEO Group by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,575,361 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $147,021,000 after acquiring an additional 58,184 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of The GEO Group by 1,116.5% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,846,814 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $52,491,000 after acquiring an additional 4,448,385 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of The GEO Group by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,012,341 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $32,624,000 after acquiring an additional 63,101 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of The GEO Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,230,000. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of The GEO Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $11,113,000. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

The GEO Group Stock Up 0.6 %

The GEO Group stock opened at $14.88 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.62. The GEO Group has a 1-year low of $6.94 and a 1-year high of $16.31. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $11.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34.

The GEO Group (NYSE:GEO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $608.28 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $597.47 million. The GEO Group had a net margin of 4.72% and a return on equity of 9.43%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.58 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that The GEO Group will post 1.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.