Jones Trading Reiterates “Buy” Rating for The GEO Group (NYSE:GEO)

The GEO Group (NYSE:GEO)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by Jones Trading in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $55.00 target price on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Jones Trading’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 94.79% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Noble Financial raised shares of The GEO Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $32.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 price target on shares of The GEO Group in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. StockNews.com lowered shares of The GEO Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group set a $32.00 price target on shares of The GEO Group in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.40.

The GEO Group Stock Down 2.9 %

Shares of GEO opened at $28.24 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 97.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The GEO Group has a 12 month low of $11.75 and a 12 month high of $36.46. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $28.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.67.

The GEO Group (NYSE:GEO) last announced 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 business had revenue of $607.72 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $607.45 million. The GEO Group had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 2.00%. Equities analysts predict that The GEO Group will post 0.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On The GEO Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GEO. Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. lifted its position in The GEO Group by 45.7% in the 4th quarter. Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 350,914 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,819,000 after acquiring an additional 110,000 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new stake in The GEO Group in the 4th quarter valued at $219,000. Pacific Point Advisors LLC bought a new stake in The GEO Group in the 4th quarter valued at $560,000. Twinbeech Capital LP lifted its position in The GEO Group by 398.0% in the 4th quarter. Twinbeech Capital LP now owns 239,627 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,705,000 after acquiring an additional 191,510 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its stake in The GEO Group by 188.3% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 420,749 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $11,773,000 after buying an additional 274,784 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About The GEO Group

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.