The GEO Group Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:GEO)

The GEO Group, Inc. (NYSE:GEO) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders acquired 55,064 call options on the company. This is an increase of 225% compared to the typical daily volume of 16,947 call options.

Institutional Trading of The GEO Group

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GEO. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake 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 worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 720 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake 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 worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 915 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its stake in shares of The GEO Group by 9.0% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 11,096 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $143,000 after purchasing an additional 919 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of The GEO Group in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Tyler Stone Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of The GEO Group by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 13,314 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $373,000 after purchasing an additional 1,030 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

The GEO Group Stock Performance

NYSE GEO opened at $27.43 on Friday. The GEO Group has a 52-week low of $11.50 and a 52-week high of $36.46. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.84 billion, a PE ratio of 94.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.87.

The GEO Group (NYSE:GEO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by ($0.08). The GEO Group had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 2.00%. The company had revenue of $607.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $607.45 million. On average, research analysts predict that The GEO Group will post 0.83 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GEO. Northland Securities raised their price target on shares of The GEO Group from $16.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Noble Financial lowered shares of The GEO Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of The GEO Group in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th.

The GEO Group Company Profile

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.