Handelsbanken Fonder AB Acquires 4,600 Shares of The GEO Group, Inc. (NYSE:GEO)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in The GEO Group, Inc. (NYSE:GEO) by 20.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,600 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,600 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in The GEO Group were worth $772,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of The GEO Group by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,919,298 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $63,213,000 after buying an additional 66,658 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of The GEO Group by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,016,103 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,765,000 after buying an additional 97,452 shares during the last quarter. Philosophy Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of The GEO Group by 17.1% in the 3rd quarter. Philosophy Capital Management LLC now owns 1,644,005 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $21,125,000 after buying an additional 240,251 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of The GEO Group by 91.9% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 859,528 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $24,050,000 after buying an additional 411,565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hodges Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of The GEO Group by 1,501.6% in the 3rd quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 788,800 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $10,136,000 after buying an additional 739,550 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating on shares of The GEO Group in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Northland Securities raised their price target on The GEO Group from $16.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Noble Financial downgraded The GEO Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th.

The GEO Group Price Performance

NYSE GEO opened at $27.37 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.83 billion, a PE ratio of 94.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.87. 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 business’s fifty day moving average is $29.42 and its 200 day moving average is $22.29. The GEO Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $11.50 and a fifty-two week high of $36.46.

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 company had revenue of $607.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $607.45 million. The GEO Group had a net margin of 2.00% and a return on equity of 9.20%. Sell-side analysts predict that The GEO Group, Inc. will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current year.

The GEO Group Profile

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.