Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Stake in GeoPark Limited (NYSE:GPRK)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in GeoPark Limited (NYSE:GPRK) by 77.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 366,380 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 159,861 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.72% of GeoPark worth $2,883,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. DGS Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in GeoPark in the 3rd quarter valued at about $148,000. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of GeoPark by 392.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 8,974 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 7,151 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in GeoPark during the third quarter worth approximately $44,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its stake in GeoPark by 67.6% in the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 79,674 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $627,000 after acquiring an additional 32,131 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC acquired a new position in GeoPark in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,834,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.21% of the company’s stock.

GeoPark Trading Up 3.9 %

Shares of GPRK opened at $10.54 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $9.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.17. GeoPark Limited has a twelve month low of $7.24 and a twelve month high of $11.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $539.23 million, a P/E ratio of 5.35 and a beta of 1.37.

GeoPark (NYSE:GPRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $159.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.99 million. GeoPark had a net margin of 14.97% and a return on equity of 57.93%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that GeoPark Limited will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

GeoPark Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were paid a $0.147 dividend. This represents a $0.59 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. GeoPark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com downgraded GeoPark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of GeoPark from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th.

GeoPark 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.