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

The GEO Group, Inc. (NYSE:GEO - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Investors bought 24,225 call options on the company. This is an increase of 194% compared to the average volume of 8,235 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GEO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $17.00 target price on shares of The GEO Group in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. StockNews.com downgraded The GEO Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th.

Insider Activity at The GEO Group

In other The GEO Group news, Chairman George C. Zoley acquired 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $12.33 per share, with a total value of $1,233,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 3,900,904 shares in the company, valued at $48,098,146.32. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 5.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On The GEO Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its position in The GEO Group by 472.1% in the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 3,181 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 2,625 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in The GEO Group by 38.5% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,874 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 1,910 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its position in shares of The GEO Group by 62.1% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 6,245 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $90,000 after acquiring an additional 2,393 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in The GEO Group during the third quarter worth about $121,000. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of The GEO Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $140,000. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

The GEO Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GEO traded down $0.27 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $14.18. 5,526,997 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,439,336. The company has a market cap of $1.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.54, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.63. The GEO Group has a twelve month low of $8.33 and a twelve month high of $18.05. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $13.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26.

The GEO Group (NYSE:GEO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.02). The GEO Group had a return on equity of 8.87% and a net margin of 1.92%. The company had revenue of $607.19 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $606.16 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.24 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that The GEO Group will post 0.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.