The GEO Group's (GEO) "Buy" Rating Reaffirmed at Jones Trading

The GEO Group (NYSE:GEO - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reiterated by stock analysts at Jones Trading in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $55.00 target price on the real estate investment trust's stock. Jones Trading's price target would suggest a potential upside of 88.81% from the stock's current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. UBS Group set a $32.00 price target on The GEO Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com cut shares of The GEO Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday. Noble Financial upgraded shares of The GEO Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $32.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $46.00 price objective on shares of The GEO Group in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, The GEO Group presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $40.40.

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The GEO Group Trading Up 3.2 %

Shares of NYSE:GEO traded up $0.90 on Friday, hitting $29.13. The company had a trading volume of 890,416 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,973,810. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $28.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 100.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The GEO Group has a 1 year low of $11.75 and a 1 year high of $36.46.

The GEO Group (NYSE:GEO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $607.45 million. Equities analysts anticipate that The GEO Group will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GEO. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in The GEO Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,279,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of The GEO Group by 91.9% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 859,528 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $24,050,000 after acquiring an additional 411,565 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in shares of The GEO Group by 20.7% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 273,724 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,517,000 after acquiring an additional 46,905 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new stake in The GEO Group during the third quarter valued at $630,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in The GEO Group in the third quarter valued at about $609,000. Institutional investors own 76.10% of the company's stock.

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.