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

The GEO Group, Inc. (NYSE:GEO) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Traders bought 29,880 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 86% compared to the average volume of 16,075 call options.

Institutional Trading of The GEO Group

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. raised its holdings in shares of The GEO Group by 45.7% in the 4th quarter. Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 350,914 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $9,819,000 after buying an additional 110,000 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new stake in The GEO Group during the 4th quarter valued at $219,000. Pacific Point Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of The GEO Group during the fourth quarter worth $560,000. Twinbeech Capital LP increased its stake in shares of The GEO Group by 398.0% in the fourth quarter. Twinbeech Capital LP now owns 239,627 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,705,000 after buying an additional 191,510 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its holdings in shares of The GEO Group by 188.3% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 420,749 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $11,773,000 after buying an additional 274,784 shares during the last quarter. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

The GEO Group Trading Down 2.9 %

NYSE:GEO opened at $28.24 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $28.57 and its 200-day moving average is $23.67. 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 12 month low of $11.75 and a 12 month high of $36.46. The firm has a market cap of $3.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 97.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.91.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have 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 target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Jones Trading reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of The GEO Group in a report on Friday. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 target price on shares of The GEO Group in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. StockNews.com lowered shares of The GEO Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group set a $32.00 price objective on The GEO Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $40.40.

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.