Geo Group (NYSE:GEO) Sets New 52-Week Low – Time to Sell?

Geo Group Inc (The) (NYSE:GEO) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $14.27 and last traded at $15.1340, with a volume of 1515313 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $16.81.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Geo Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 11th. Jones Trading lowered their price objective on shares of Geo Group from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Geo Group in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.00.

Geo Group Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $2.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.14, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.75. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

Geo Group (NYSE:GEO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Geo Group had a net margin of 3.69% and a return on equity of 7.26%. The company had revenue of $565.42 million for the quarter. Geo Group has set its FY22 guidance at $2.40-2.46 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Geo Group Inc will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Geo Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, August 6th that authorizes the company to buyback $300.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the real estate investment trust to repurchase up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Geo Group by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,922,108 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $117,884,000 after acquiring an additional 98,739 shares during the period. Continental General Insurance Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Geo Group by 919.8% during the 2nd quarter. Continental General Insurance Co. now owns 3,904,474 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $93,512,000 after acquiring an additional 3,521,589 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Geo Group by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,259,307 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $78,076,000 after acquiring an additional 108,106 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Geo Group by 312.7% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,608,619 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $76,198,000 after acquiring an additional 1,976,544 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Geo Group by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,554,420 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $45,405,000 after acquiring an additional 32,060 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About 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.