Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Geo Group Call Options (NYSE:GEO)

Geo Group Inc (The) (NYSE:GEO) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors purchased 21,714 call options on the company. This is an increase of 186% compared to the typical daily volume of 7,580 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Geo Group

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Turiya Advisors Asia Ltd purchased a new position in Geo Group during the third quarter valued at $115,664,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC bought a new position in shares of Geo Group in the third quarter worth about $88,625,000. Continental General Insurance Co. raised its stake in shares of Geo Group by 919.8% in the second quarter. Continental General Insurance Co. now owns 3,904,474 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $93,512,000 after buying an additional 3,521,589 shares during the period. Rubric Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Geo Group by 139.5% during the 3rd quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 2,986,915 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $61,202,000 after buying an additional 1,739,522 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG grew its stake in shares of Geo Group by 56.5% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,603,288 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $73,831,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300,139 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Geo Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GEO traded up $0.21 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $16.42. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 711,587 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,769,436. The company has a 50-day moving average of $16.23 and a 200-day moving average of $20.44. Geo Group has a 12 month low of $14.27 and a 12 month high of $36.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.62. The firm has a market cap of $2.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.66 and a beta of 0.70.

Geo Group (NYSE:GEO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, September 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Geo Group had a net margin of 9.41% and a return on equity of 7.42%. The company had revenue of $565.42 million during the quarter. Geo Group has set its FY22 guidance at $2.40-2.46 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Geo Group will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GEO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered Geo Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Jones Trading decreased their price objective on shares of Geo Group from $50.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Geo Group in a report on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Geo Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.00.

About Geo Group

The GEO Group (NYSE:GEO) is a leading provider of correctional, detention and community reentry services to government agencies around the world. As a real estate investment trust, the company specializes in the design, financing, development and operation of secure facilities for adult and juvenile offenders, immigration detainees and individuals requiring mental health treatment or substance abuse programming. GEO’s integrated service model also encompasses electronic monitoring, rehabilitative programming and post-release supervision aimed at reducing recidivism and enhancing public safety.

GEO’s portfolio spans a range of facility types, including medium- and maximum-security correctional institutions, residential reentry centers, mental health treatment units and immigration detention centers.