Stock Traders Buy High Volume of The GEO Group Call Options (NYSE:GEO)

The GEO Group, Inc. (NYSE:GEO - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors purchased 29,880 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 86% compared to the typical volume of 16,075 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of The GEO Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $46.00 target price on shares of The GEO Group in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. UBS Group set a $32.00 price objective on The GEO Group in a research report 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 on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Jones Trading restated a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of The GEO Group in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $40.40.

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Institutional Trading of The GEO Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in The GEO Group during the third quarter worth $25,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of The GEO Group in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of The GEO Group by 160.0% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,170 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 720 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of The GEO Group by 149.5% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in shares of The GEO Group during the third quarter valued at about $67,000. 76.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

The GEO Group Trading Down 0.4 %

GEO stock traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $28.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,492,077 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,685,343. The company has a market cap of $4.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 99.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.91. The GEO Group has a 12 month low of $11.75 and a 12 month high of $36.46. The business's 50 day moving average price is $28.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.86. 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 GEO Group (NYSE:GEO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 GEO Group had a net margin of 2.00% and a return on equity of 9.20%. The firm had revenue of $607.72 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $607.45 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that The GEO Group will post 0.83 EPS for the current year.

The GEO Group Company 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.