The GEO Group (NYSE:GEO) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

The GEO Group (NYSE:GEO) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued on Thursday.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on GEO. UBS Group set a $32.00 price target on The GEO Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Noble Financial upgraded The GEO Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $32.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 price target on shares of The GEO Group in a report on Tuesday.

The GEO Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GEO traded up $0.87 during trading on Thursday, hitting $29.04. The company had a trading volume of 3,178,517 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,694,729. The GEO Group has a 12 month low of $11.75 and a 12 month 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 firm has a market capitalization of $4.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 100.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.50.

The GEO Group (NYSE:GEO) last released its 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 firm 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that The GEO Group will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GEO. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in The GEO Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of The GEO Group in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in The GEO Group by 160.0% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,170 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 720 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in The GEO Group by 149.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,527 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 915 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in The GEO Group during the third quarter valued at $67,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

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.