The GEO Group’s (GEO) Buy Rating Reiterated at Jones Trading

Jones Trading reissued their buy rating on shares of The GEO Group (NYSE:GEO) in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $55.00 target price on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. UBS Group set a $32.00 target price on The GEO Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Wedbush restated 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 downgraded The GEO Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Noble Financial upgraded 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $40.40.

The GEO Group Trading Down 2.9 %

NYSE:GEO opened at $28.24 on Friday. The GEO Group has a 1-year low of $11.75 and a 1-year high of $36.46. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $28.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.75. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 97.37, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.91.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of The GEO Group during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of The GEO Group by 160.0% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,170 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 720 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $42,000 after buying an additional 915 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of The GEO Group during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of The GEO Group by 182.6% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,148 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $88,000 after buying an additional 2,034 shares in the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently 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.