GeoPark (NYSE:GPRK) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of GeoPark (NYSE:GPRK) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Sunday.

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of GeoPark from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th.

GeoPark Stock Performance

NYSE GPRK opened at $11.05 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $565.35 million, a P/E ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 1.35. GeoPark has a 52-week low of $7.24 and a 52-week high of $11.72. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $9.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53.

GeoPark (NYSE:GPRK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.11). GeoPark had a net margin of 14.97% and a return on equity of 57.93%. The company had revenue of $159.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $156.99 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that GeoPark will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

GeoPark Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were issued a $0.147 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $0.59 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.32%. GeoPark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.44%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of GeoPark by 77.4% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 366,380 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,883,000 after purchasing an additional 159,861 shares in the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of GeoPark in the third quarter valued at about $148,000. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in GeoPark by 392.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 8,974 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 7,151 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in GeoPark during the third quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its position in GeoPark by 67.6% during the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 79,674 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $627,000 after buying an additional 32,131 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.21% of the company’s stock.

About GeoPark

GeoPark Limited operates as an oil and natural gas exploration and production company primarily in Chile, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, and other Latin American countries. It engages in the exploration, development, and production of oil and gas reserves. The company was formerly known as GeoPark Holdings Limited and changed its name to GeoPark Limited in July 2013.