GeoPark (NYSE:GPRK) Lifted to “Strong-Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of GeoPark (NYSE:GPRK) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Friday morning.

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of GeoPark from $11.50 to $12.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th.

GeoPark Trading Up 0.8 %

GPRK stock opened at $8.52 on Friday. GeoPark has a 1-year low of $7.24 and a 1-year high of $11.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83. The business’s 50 day moving average is $8.56 and its 200-day moving average is $9.55. The firm has a market cap of $471.39 million, a P/E ratio of 4.18 and a beta of 1.32.

GeoPark (NYSE:GPRK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The oil and gas company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.30). The business had revenue of $190.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $182.74 million. GeoPark had a return on equity of 60.77% and a net margin of 14.28%. Equities analysts anticipate that GeoPark will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

GeoPark Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 29th were given a $0.147 dividend. This represents a $0.59 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 29th. GeoPark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.43%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GeoPark

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GPRK. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of GeoPark by 3,251.7% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 379,483 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,139,000 after acquiring an additional 368,161 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new position in GeoPark during the second quarter worth about $2,929,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in GeoPark during the second quarter worth approximately $2,261,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in GeoPark by 1.9% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,246,617 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $35,550,000 after buying an additional 61,454 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its stake in GeoPark by 67.8% in the first quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 148,060 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,421,000 after buying an additional 59,834 shares during the period. 68.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About GeoPark

GeoPark Limited engages in the exploration, development, and production of oil and gas reserves in Chile, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, and Ecuador. GeoPark Limited has a strategic partnership with ONGC Videsh to jointly acquire, invest in, and create value from upstream oil and gas projects across Latin America.