Investors Purchase High Volume of Call Options on The GEO Group (NYSE:GEO)

The GEO Group, Inc. (NYSE:GEO) saw unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Investors purchased 29,880 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 86% compared to the average daily volume of 16,075 call options.

The GEO Group Price Performance

NYSE GEO traded down $0.84 on Friday, reaching $28.24. 4,301,366 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,701,233. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $28.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.50. 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 company 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 has a 12 month low of $11.75 and a 12 month high of $36.46.

The GEO Group (NYSE:GEO) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $607.72 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $607.45 million. The GEO Group had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 2.00%. As a group, research analysts predict that The GEO Group will post 0.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GEO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of The GEO Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. Noble Financial raised The GEO Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $32.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $46.00 price target on shares of The GEO Group in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group set a $32.00 price target on The GEO Group in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Jones Trading restated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of The GEO Group in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $40.40.

Institutional Trading of The GEO Group

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. NewEdge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The GEO Group in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of The GEO Group by 160.0% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,170 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 720 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The GEO Group by 149.5% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,527 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 915 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of The GEO Group in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in shares of The GEO Group by 182.6% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,148 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 2,034 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.