Geopark (NYSE:GPRK) Stock Jumps 3.8% – Should You Buy?

Geopark Ltd (NYSE:GPRK)’s share price traded up 3.8% during trading on Thursday. The stock traded as high as $11.51 and last traded at $11.53. Approximately 103,830 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 788,705 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.11.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on GPRK shares. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $12.00 price target on shares of Geopark in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Wall Street Zen cut Geopark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Geopark in a research note on Friday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Geopark has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.00.

Geopark Trading Up 0.4%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company has a market cap of $594.66 million, a P/E ratio of 7.82 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $10.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $10.02.

Geopark (NYSE:GPRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $143.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $185.50 million. Geopark had a return on equity of 31.33% and a net margin of 16.00%.

Geopark Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th were given a dividend of $0.0230 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $0.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Geopark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.12%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director James Park sold 120,000 shares of Geopark stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.65, for a total transaction of $1,158,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 792,118 shares in the company, valued at $7,643,938.70. The trade was a 13.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Geopark

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GPRK. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Geopark by 21.2% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,309,031 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $31,436,000 after purchasing an additional 578,178 shares during the period. Sycale Advisors NY LLC bought a new position in shares of Geopark in the 1st quarter worth $3,222,000. Flax Pond Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Geopark during the first quarter worth $3,352,000. Aventail Capital Group LP acquired a new stake in shares of Geopark during the fourth quarter worth $3,164,000. Finally, Banco BTG Pactual S.A. increased its holdings in Geopark by 132.4% in the fourth quarter. Banco BTG Pactual S.A. now owns 185,884 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,377,000 after purchasing an additional 105,884 shares during the last quarter. 68.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Geopark Company Profile

GeoPark Limited is an independent Latin American oil and natural gas exploration and production company. Its activities include identifying hydrocarbon resources, acquiring and developing exploration and production assets, drilling wells, and producing and selling crude oil and natural gas.

Founded in 2002, GeoPark has built a portfolio of operated and non-operated assets in several South American markets. The company has been particularly associated with oil and gas operations in Colombia’s Llanos Basin and Brazil’s onshore basins, while its broader history includes exploration and production activities in other Latin American countries.

GeoPark’s operations generally encompass the full upstream process, including geological and seismic evaluation, field development, well drilling, production management, and the operation of related infrastructure.