GeoPark Limited (GPRK) To Go Ex-Dividend on May 22nd

GeoPark Limited (NYSE:GPRK) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 8th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be given a dividend of 0.147 per share by the oil and gas company on Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $0.59 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd.

GeoPark has increased its dividend payment by an average of 67.4% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 3 consecutive years. GeoPark has a dividend payout ratio of 51.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect GeoPark to earn $2.85 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.59 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 20.7%.

GeoPark Stock Down 2.3%

NYSE:GPRK opened at $6.70 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $343.35 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.76. GeoPark has a twelve month low of $5.66 and a twelve month high of $11.72. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $7.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $8.51. 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 (NYSE:GPRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The oil and gas company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $137.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $126.00 million. GeoPark had a return on equity of 57.93% and a net margin of 14.97%. Equities research analysts expect that GeoPark will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com lowered GeoPark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, April 27th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GPRK. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of GeoPark by 139.9% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 594,154 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,801,000 after acquiring an additional 346,521 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in GeoPark by 94.2% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 365,825 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,956,000 after purchasing an additional 177,496 shares during the period. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in GeoPark by 115.2% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 284,962 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,302,000 after purchasing an additional 152,520 shares during the period. 68.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About GeoPark

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.