Geopark (NYSE:GPRK) Shares Climb 3% – Here’s What Happened

Geopark Ltd (NYSE:GPRK) shares traded up 3% during trading on Wednesday. The stock traded as high as $11.27 and last traded at $11.2230. 67,455 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 91% from the average daily volume of 786,839 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.90.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GPRK shares. Wall Street Zen cut Geopark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Geopark in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $12.00 price objective on shares of Geopark in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.00.

Geopark Stock Up 2.2%

The firm has a market cap of $586.91 million, a P/E ratio of 7.72 and a beta of 0.41. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

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

Geopark Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Geopark

In other news, Director James Park sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.92, for a total value of $1,192,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 692,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,250,046.56. This trade represents a 12.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Geopark

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of GPRK. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Geopark by 21.2% during the first 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. Aventail Capital Group LP purchased a new position in Geopark in the 4th quarter worth about $3,164,000. Flax Pond Capital LLC bought a new stake in Geopark during the 1st quarter valued at about $3,352,000. Sycale Advisors NY LLC bought a new stake in Geopark during the 1st quarter valued at about $3,222,000. Finally, Banco BTG Pactual S.A. lifted its holdings in Geopark by 132.4% during the 4th 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 buying an additional 105,884 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.21% of the company’s stock.

About Geopark

GeoPark Limited (NYSE: GPRK) is an independent Latin American oil and gas exploration, development and production company. The company explores for and produces crude oil and natural gas, with activities focused primarily on onshore assets and mature hydrocarbon basins.

Founded in 2002, GeoPark has built a portfolio through exploration, acquisitions and partnerships across South America. Its operations have included Colombia, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Ecuador and Argentina, although its asset base and operating footprint may change as the company develops, acquires or divests properties.

GeoPark’s business is centered on identifying hydrocarbon reserves, developing producing fields and applying operational and technical expertise to improve recovery from existing assets.