Jones Trading Cuts The GEO Group (NYSE:GEO) Price Target to $50.00

The GEO Group (NYSE:GEO) had its target price cut by Jones Trading from $55.00 to $50.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on GEO. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 price target on shares of The GEO Group in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Noble Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of The GEO Group in a research note on Monday, March 24th. UBS Group set a $35.00 price objective on The GEO Group in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, StockNews.com cut The GEO Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.00.

The GEO Group Stock Performance

Shares of The GEO Group stock opened at $25.22 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $28.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.61. The GEO Group has a 1-year low of $11.75 and a 1-year high of $36.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The company has a market cap of $3.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 86.97, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.80.

The GEO Group (NYSE:GEO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $604.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $611.81 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 prior year, the business earned $0.14 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that The GEO Group will post 0.83 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Shayn P. March sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total value of $225,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 67,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,024,070. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 5.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On The GEO Group

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in The GEO Group by 91.9% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 859,528 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $24,050,000 after acquiring an additional 411,565 shares during the period. RoundAngle Advisors LLC bought a new position in The GEO Group during the fourth quarter valued at $806,000. Pinnbrook Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in The GEO Group in the fourth quarter worth $4,837,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its stake in shares of The GEO Group by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 106,488 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,980,000 after buying an additional 15,663 shares during the period. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D purchased a new position in shares of The GEO Group during the 4th quarter valued at $2,068,000. 76.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

The GEO Group Company Profile

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.