CoreCivic, Inc. (NYSE:CXW) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

CoreCivic, Inc. (NYSE:CXW) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totaling 3,574,436 shares, a growth of 65.8% from the July 15th total of 2,155,884 shares. Currently, 3.7% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 952,908 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.8 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CoreCivic news, CFO David Garfinkle sold 3,170 shares of CoreCivic stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.27, for a total transaction of $108,635.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 394,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,517,595.88. The trade was a 0.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Harley G. Lappin sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.69, for a total transaction of $98,070.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 50,328 shares in the company, valued at $1,645,222.32. This trade represents a 5.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 223,891 shares of company stock valued at $7,435,655 over the last 90 days. 1.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CoreCivic

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in CoreCivic in the second quarter worth approximately $480,557,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in CoreCivic by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,713,519 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $242,955,000 after acquiring an additional 138,846 shares in the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of CoreCivic by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 8,978,240 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $171,574,000 after acquiring an additional 287,108 shares during the period. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CoreCivic by 273.1% in the 1st quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. now owns 2,173,498 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $41,101,000 after acquiring an additional 1,590,940 shares during the period. Finally, Rubric Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of CoreCivic by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 2,059,216 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,940,000 after acquiring an additional 97,770 shares in the last quarter. 85.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CoreCivic Stock Down 3.7%

Shares of CoreCivic stock traded down $1.23 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $32.35. 1,084,923 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,200,278. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.50. The firm has a market cap of $3.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.88 and a beta of 0.58. CoreCivic has a 52-week low of $15.73 and a 52-week high of $34.86.

CoreCivic (NYSE:CXW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $684.92 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $618.63 million. CoreCivic had a net margin of 5.15% and a return on equity of 9.22%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.59 earnings per share. CoreCivic has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.610-2.700 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that CoreCivic will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CoreCivic announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, August 10th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the real estate investment trust to buy up to 15.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CXW has been the topic of several analyst reports. Northland Securities set a $40.00 price target on shares of CoreCivic in a report on Friday, June 26th. UBS Group set a $35.00 price objective on shares of CoreCivic in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. JonesTrading reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of CoreCivic in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings raised CoreCivic from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Noble Financial restated an “outperform” rating on shares of CoreCivic in a report on Monday, August 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.00.

About CoreCivic

CoreCivic, Inc (NYSE: CXW) is a real estate investment trust specializing in the ownership, management and operation of private correctional and detention facilities in the United States. The company enters into contracts with federal, state and local government agencies to house inmates and detainees in facilities that it owns or operates on a concession basis. In addition to traditional prison operations, CoreCivic provides specialized services such as community-based reentry programs, electronic monitoring and rehabilitation initiatives aimed at reducing recidivism.

CoreCivic’s portfolio encompasses a mix of adult correctional facilities, immigration detention centers, residential reentry centers and other community-based programs.