Renaissance Technologies LLC Takes Position in The GEO Group, Inc. (NYSE:GEO)

Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of The GEO Group, Inc. (NYSE:GEO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 264,391 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $7,398,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned approximately 0.19% of The GEO Group as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in The GEO Group by 160.0% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,170 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 720 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position 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 worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 915 shares in the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in shares of The GEO Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $67,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of The GEO Group by 182.6% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,148 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $88,000 after acquiring an additional 2,034 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC grew its stake in The GEO Group by 6,800.0% in the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 4,140 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $116,000 after purchasing an additional 4,080 shares in the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on GEO. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of The GEO Group in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Jones Trading reissued a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of The GEO Group in a research report on Friday, March 21st. UBS Group set a $35.00 target price on The GEO Group in a research note on Monday, March 24th. StockNews.com cut The GEO Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Noble Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of The GEO Group in a research report on Monday, March 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, The GEO Group currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $41.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at The GEO Group

In other The GEO Group news, EVP Shayn P. March sold 7,500 shares of The GEO Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total transaction of $225,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 67,469 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,024,070. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 5.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

The GEO Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GEO traded up $1.27 during trading on Thursday, reaching $29.60. 872,324 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,784,970. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 101.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50-day moving average of $27.52 and a 200-day moving average of $26.27. The GEO Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $11.75 and a 52-week high of $36.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

The GEO Group (NYSE:GEO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.21 by ($0.08). The GEO Group had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 2.00%. The firm had revenue of $607.72 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $607.45 million. Analysts forecast that The GEO Group, Inc. will post 0.83 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.