Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on The GEO Group (NYSE:GEO)

The GEO Group, Inc. (NYSE:GEO) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors acquired 55,064 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 225% compared to the average volume of 16,947 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GEO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Noble Financial downgraded The GEO Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of The GEO Group in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Northland Securities raised their target price on shares of The GEO Group from $16.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of The GEO Group by 1.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,919,298 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $63,213,000 after purchasing an additional 66,658 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The GEO Group by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,051,384 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $85,398,000 after buying an additional 35,281 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in The GEO Group by 202.6% in the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,124,783 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $59,451,000 after acquiring an additional 1,422,676 shares in the last quarter. Discovery Capital Management LLC CT increased its holdings in shares of The GEO Group by 375.2% in the 4th quarter. Discovery Capital Management LLC CT now owns 1,839,500 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $51,469,000 after purchasing an additional 1,452,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Philosophy Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in The GEO Group by 17.1% in the third quarter. Philosophy Capital Management LLC now owns 1,644,005 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $21,125,000 after buying an additional 240,251 shares in the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

The GEO Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GEO traded down $0.12 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $25.72. 2,055,860 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,854,992. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market cap of $3.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 88.69, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.87. The GEO Group has a 1 year low of $11.50 and a 1 year high of $36.46.

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.