CoreCivic, Inc. (NYSE:CXW) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

CoreCivic, Inc. (NYSE:CXW - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,050,000 shares, a drop of 20.4% from the January 15th total of 3,830,000 shares. Approximately 2.9% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,460,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.1 days.

CoreCivic Stock Performance

Shares of CXW traded down $0.12 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $19.07. The company had a trading volume of 406,174 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,302,929. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.33 and a beta of 1.00. CoreCivic has a 52-week low of $10.74 and a 52-week high of $24.99. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $21.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

CoreCivic (NYSE:CXW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.06. CoreCivic had a return on equity of 5.97% and a net margin of 3.51%. On average, analysts expect that CoreCivic will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Mark A. Emkes sold 16,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.70, for a total value of $363,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 149,264 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,388,292.80. This represents a 9.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Anthony L. Grande sold 26,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.18, for a total value of $576,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 127,380 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,825,288.40. This trade represents a 16.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.21% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in shares of CoreCivic by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 12,742 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $277,000 after acquiring an additional 944 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in CoreCivic by 25.5% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,686 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $102,000 after purchasing an additional 953 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in CoreCivic by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 62,000 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,348,000 after purchasing an additional 1,322 shares during the period. State of Wyoming increased its position in shares of CoreCivic by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 20,796 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $452,000 after buying an additional 1,443 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of CoreCivic by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 57,312 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,246,000 after buying an additional 1,450 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CXW has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of CoreCivic in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of CoreCivic from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Noble Financial upgraded shares of CoreCivic from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Northland Securities increased their price objective on shares of CoreCivic from $17.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th.

About CoreCivic

CoreCivic, Inc owns and operates partnership correctional, detention, and residential reentry facilities in the United States. It operates through three segments: CoreCivic Safety, CoreCivic Community, and CoreCivic Properties. The company provides a range of solutions to government partners that serve the public good through corrections and detention management, a network of residential reentry centers to help address America's recidivism crisis, and government real estate solutions.