The GEO Group Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:GEO)

The GEO Group, Inc. (NYSE:GEO) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock traders purchased 29,880 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 86% compared to the typical daily volume of 16,075 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GEO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Noble Financial raised The GEO Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $32.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 target price on shares of The GEO Group in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com downgraded The GEO Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. Jones Trading reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of The GEO Group in a research report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group set a $32.00 target price on The GEO Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, The GEO Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.40.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On The GEO Group

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GEO. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of The GEO Group by 12.0% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 195,376 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,511,000 after acquiring an additional 20,962 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of The GEO Group during the third quarter worth approximately $609,000. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new stake in shares of The GEO Group during the third quarter worth approximately $630,000. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of The GEO Group during the third quarter worth approximately $1,279,000. Finally, Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of The GEO Group by 65.4% during the third quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. now owns 38,200 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $491,000 after acquiring an additional 15,100 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

The GEO Group Trading Down 2.9 %

The GEO Group stock opened at $28.24 on Friday. The GEO Group has a 52 week low of $11.75 and a 52 week high of $36.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 97.37, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.60.

The GEO Group (NYSE:GEO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by ($0.08). The GEO Group had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 2.00%. The business had revenue of $607.72 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $607.45 million. Analysts expect that The GEO Group will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current 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.