Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on GeoPark (NYSE:GPRK)

GeoPark Limited (NYSE:GPRK) saw unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Investors purchased 2,044 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 3,550% compared to the average daily volume of 56 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on GPRK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of GeoPark from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of GeoPark from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of GeoPark during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Employees Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in shares of GeoPark in the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in GeoPark in the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. Blue Trust Inc. acquired a new stake in GeoPark during the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in GeoPark during the third quarter valued at about $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.21% of the company’s stock.

GeoPark Stock Up 7.5 %

Shares of GPRK stock opened at $11.19 on Wednesday. GeoPark has a 1 year low of $7.24 and a 1 year high of $11.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.28. The business’s fifty day moving average is $8.39 and its 200-day moving average is $9.20. The stock has a market cap of $572.48 million, a PE ratio of 5.68 and a beta of 1.37.

GeoPark (NYSE:GPRK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.11). GeoPark had a return on equity of 57.93% and a net margin of 14.97%. The firm had revenue of $159.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.99 million. Equities analysts expect that GeoPark will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

GeoPark Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.147 per share. This represents a $0.59 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.25%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. GeoPark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.95%.

GeoPark Company Profile

GeoPark Limited operates as an oil and natural gas exploration and production company primarily in Chile, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, and other Latin American countries. It engages in the exploration, development, and production of oil and gas reserves. The company was formerly known as GeoPark Holdings Limited and changed its name to GeoPark Limited in July 2013.