CoreCivic (NYSE:CXW) Receives “Buy” Rating from JonesTrading

CoreCivic (NYSE:CXW)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by JonesTrading in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $42.00 price target on the real estate investment trust’s stock. JonesTrading’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 22.41% from the stock’s previous close.

CXW has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Wall Street Zen raised CoreCivic from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Benchmark upped their target price on CoreCivic from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings raised CoreCivic from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Northland Securities set a $40.00 target price on CoreCivic in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, UBS Group set a $35.00 target price on CoreCivic in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.40.

CoreCivic Trading Up 6.3%

Shares of CXW traded up $2.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $34.31. 2,619,478 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,296,677. The stock has a market cap of $3.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.45 and a beta of 0.60. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $32.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.57. CoreCivic has a 12 month low of $15.73 and a 12 month high of $36.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.32.

CoreCivic (NYSE:CXW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $684.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $618.63 million. CoreCivic had a return on equity of 9.22% and a net margin of 5.15%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 27.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. CoreCivic has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.610-2.700 EPS. Research analysts forecast that CoreCivic will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CoreCivic declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Monday, August 10th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the real estate investment trust to buy up to 15.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Lucibeth Mayberry sold 120,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.29, for a total value of $3,994,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 149,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,971,162.41. This represents a 44.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark A. Emkes sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.25, for a total value of $1,027,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 141,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,838,634.50. This trade represents a 17.52% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 459,287 shares of company stock valued at $15,431,193 over the last 90 days. 1.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in CoreCivic during the second quarter worth $480,557,000. River Road Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in CoreCivic by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 8,978,240 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $171,574,000 after buying an additional 287,108 shares during the period. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. lifted its holdings in CoreCivic by 273.1% during the first quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. now owns 2,173,498 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $41,101,000 after buying an additional 1,590,940 shares during the period. Rubric Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in CoreCivic by 5.0% during the first quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 2,059,216 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,940,000 after buying an additional 97,770 shares during the period. Finally, Park West Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in CoreCivic during the second quarter worth $27,310,000. Institutional investors own 85.13% of the company’s stock.

About CoreCivic

CoreCivic, Inc (NYSE: CXW) is a diversified government-solutions company that provides detention, corrections and residential reentry services. The company partners with federal, state and local government agencies to design, develop, own, lease and manage correctional and detention facilities in the United States.

Through its CoreCivic Safety operations, the company manages correctional and detention facilities and provides related services, including security, inmate care, transportation and rehabilitation programs.