Geopark (NYSE:GPRK) Shares Up 3.8% – What’s Next?

Geopark Ltd (NYSE:GPRK)’s share price rose 3.8% during trading on Thursday. The company traded as high as $11.51 and last traded at $11.53. 103,830 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 788,705 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.11.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GPRK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Geopark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Geopark in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $12.00 price target on shares of Geopark in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.00.

Geopark Trading Up 3.8%

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $10.51 and a 200-day moving average of $10.00. The company has a market capitalization of $596.22 million, a P/E ratio of 7.84 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Geopark (NYSE:GPRK) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.10. Geopark had a net margin of 16.00% and a return on equity of 31.33%. The company had revenue of $143.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $185.50 million.

Geopark Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th were paid a $0.0230 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $0.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Geopark’s payout ratio is presently 6.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director James Park sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.92, for a total value of $1,192,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 692,118 shares in the company, valued at $8,250,046.56. The trade was a 12.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Geopark

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pale Fire Capital SE lifted its stake in shares of Geopark by 194.4% during the 2nd quarter. Pale Fire Capital SE now owns 63,300 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $576,000 after acquiring an additional 41,800 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in Geopark in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Ramsey Quantitative Systems bought a new position in Geopark in the 2nd quarter valued at $143,000. Flax Pond Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Geopark in the first quarter worth $3,352,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Geopark by 13.8% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 31,504 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $299,000 after purchasing an additional 3,823 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.21% of the company’s stock.

Geopark Company Profile

GeoPark Limited is an independent Latin American oil and natural gas exploration and production company. Its activities include identifying hydrocarbon resources, acquiring and developing exploration and production assets, drilling wells, and producing and selling crude oil and natural gas.

Founded in 2002, GeoPark has built a portfolio of operated and non-operated assets in several South American markets. The company has been particularly associated with oil and gas operations in Colombia’s Llanos Basin and Brazil’s onshore basins, while its broader history includes exploration and production activities in other Latin American countries.

GeoPark’s operations generally encompass the full upstream process, including geological and seismic evaluation, field development, well drilling, production management, and the operation of related infrastructure.