Geo Group Inc (The) (NYSE:GEO) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $40.00 According to Brokerages

Geo Group Inc (The) (NYSE:GEO) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the six ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $40.00.

GEO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Geo Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 25th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Geo Group in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Noble Financial restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Geo Group in a report on Monday, August 10th. Zacks Research raised Geo Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, JonesTrading reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Geo Group in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Geo Group news, VP Matthew Albence sold 11,797 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.45, for a total value of $371,015.65. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 87,602 shares in the company, valued at $2,755,082.90. This trade represents a 11.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ronald A. Brack sold 7,000 shares of Geo Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.00, for a total transaction of $224,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 71,614 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,291,648. This trade represents a 8.90% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 28,797 shares of company stock worth $911,916 over the last quarter. 4.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Geo Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of Geo Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new position in Geo Group during the second quarter worth $34,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in Geo Group by 111.9% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,723 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 910 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Geo Group by 164.2% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,587 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 1,608 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its holdings in Geo Group by 22.7% in the first quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 3,866 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 715 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Geo Group Stock Performance

GEO stock opened at $27.57 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $30.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.13. Geo Group has a fifty-two week low of $12.51 and a fifty-two week high of $33.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a PE ratio of 13.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.77.

Geo Group (NYSE:GEO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.08. Geo Group had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 10.31%. The company had revenue of $732.07 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $721.43 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.22 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Geo Group will post 1.33 EPS for the current year.

About Geo Group

The GEO Group, Inc (NYSE: GEO) is a provider of correctional, detention and community-based services. The company develops and operates secure facilities for government agencies, offering services that can include facility management, housing, transportation, food services, medical care, education and rehabilitation programs.

GEO also provides reentry and community-based services designed to support individuals transitioning from incarceration. Through its electronic monitoring and supervision offerings, the company assists government and law-enforcement agencies with alternatives to secure detention, including GPS monitoring, case management and other post-release support services.

Founded in 1984 as Wackenhut Corrections Corporation, the company adopted the name The GEO Group in 2003.