The GEO Group Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:GEO)

The GEO Group, Inc. (NYSE:GEO) saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Traders bought 16,588 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 159% compared to the typical daily volume of 6,400 call options.

Insider Transactions at The GEO Group

In other news, Director Scott Michael Kernan sold 5,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.62, for a total value of $72,186.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $326,008.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Scott Michael Kernan sold 5,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.62, for a total transaction of $72,186.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 23,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $326,008.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Shayn P. March sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.00, for a total value of $37,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 67,830 shares in the company, valued at $1,017,450. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 5.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in The GEO Group by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 21,900 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $237,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in The GEO Group by 3.1% in the first quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 39,703 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $561,000 after purchasing an additional 1,197 shares in the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its stake in shares of The GEO Group by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 106,826 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,508,000 after acquiring an additional 1,402 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of The GEO Group by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 24,326 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $343,000 after acquiring an additional 1,669 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of The GEO Group by 19.0% during the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 12,576 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $178,000 after acquiring an additional 2,010 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wedbush cut their target price on The GEO Group from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th.

The GEO Group Stock Performance

Shares of GEO stock opened at $13.26 on Thursday. The GEO Group has a 1-year low of $6.94 and a 1-year high of $16.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. The company has a market capitalization of $1.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $13.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.76.

The GEO Group (NYSE:GEO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by ($0.01). The GEO Group had a net margin of 4.51% and a return on equity of 8.88%. The business had revenue of $605.67 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $603.84 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.22 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The GEO Group will post 1.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.