GeoPark (NYSE:GPRK) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of GeoPark (NYSE:GPRK) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Friday morning.

GeoPark Trading Up 6.7 %

GPRK stock opened at $6.45 on Friday. GeoPark has a 52 week low of $5.66 and a 52 week high of $11.72. The company has a market capitalization of $330.29 million, a PE ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.93. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $7.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $8.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.28.

GeoPark (NYSE:GPRK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 5th. The oil and gas company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.43). The business had revenue of $143.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $141.00 million. GeoPark had a return on equity of 57.93% and a net margin of 14.97%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that GeoPark will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current year.

GeoPark Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 19th were issued a dividend of $0.147 per share. This represents a $0.59 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 19th. GeoPark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.22%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC acquired a new stake in shares of GeoPark in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,834,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of GeoPark by 77.4% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 366,380 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,883,000 after buying an additional 159,861 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of GeoPark by 392.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 8,974 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 7,151 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of GeoPark by 43.2% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 223,867 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,075,000 after acquiring an additional 67,573 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Savant Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of GeoPark by 95.4% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 22,119 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $205,000 after acquiring an additional 10,800 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.21% of the company’s stock.

GeoPark Company Profile

GeoPark Limited operates as an oil and natural gas exploration and production company primarily in Chile, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, and other Latin American countries. It engages in the exploration, development, and production of oil and gas reserves. The company was formerly known as GeoPark Holdings Limited and changed its name to GeoPark Limited in July 2013.