StockNews.com Downgrades The GEO Group (NYSE:GEO) to Sell

The GEO Group (NYSE:GEO) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on GEO. Noble Financial upgraded shares of The GEO Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $32.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group set a $32.00 price objective on shares of The GEO Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of The GEO Group in a research report on Tuesday. One research 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 has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $40.40.

The GEO Group Stock Down 2.9 %

Shares of NYSE:GEO opened at $28.24 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 97.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $28.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.60. 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 has a 1-year low of $11.75 and a 1-year high of $36.46.

The GEO Group (NYSE:GEO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $607.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $607.45 million. The GEO Group had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 2.00%. Sell-side analysts predict that The GEO Group will post 0.83 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On The GEO Group

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GEO. Discovery Capital Management LLC CT increased its holdings in shares of The GEO Group by 375.2% in the 4th quarter. Discovery Capital Management LLC CT now owns 1,839,500 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $51,469,000 after purchasing an additional 1,452,400 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of The GEO Group by 202.6% in the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,124,783 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $59,451,000 after purchasing an additional 1,422,676 shares in the last quarter. Newbrook Capital Advisors LP purchased a new position in shares of The GEO Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,738,000. BlueCrest Capital Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of The GEO Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,456,000. Finally, Hodges Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of The GEO Group by 1,501.6% in the 3rd quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 788,800 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,136,000 after purchasing an additional 739,550 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

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.