Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Has $1.59 Million Stock Holdings in The GEO Group, Inc. (NYSE:GEO)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its holdings in shares of The GEO Group, Inc. (NYSE:GEO) by 9.2% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 110,914 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,313 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in The GEO Group were worth $1,593,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in shares of The GEO Group by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 21,900 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $237,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in The GEO Group by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 39,703 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $561,000 after purchasing an additional 1,197 shares during the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its holdings in The GEO Group by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 106,826 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,508,000 after purchasing an additional 1,402 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in The GEO Group by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 24,326 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 1,669 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in The GEO Group by 19.0% in the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 12,576 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $178,000 after purchasing an additional 2,010 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of The GEO Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $19.00 price objective on shares of The GEO Group in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other The GEO Group news, EVP Shayn P. March sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.50, for a total value of $43,750.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,330 shares in the company, valued at $1,143,275. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Shayn P. March sold 2,500 shares of The GEO Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.50, for a total transaction of $43,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,143,275. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Scott Michael Kernan sold 5,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.62, for a total transaction of $72,186.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 23,936 shares in the company, valued at $326,008.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

The GEO Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GEO traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $13.18. 109,441 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,592,086. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.70. The GEO Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $6.94 and a 12 month high of $18.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.84 billion, a PE ratio of 18.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.67.

The GEO Group (NYSE:GEO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $607.19 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $606.16 million. The GEO Group had a return on equity of 8.87% and a net margin of 1.92%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.24 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that The GEO Group, Inc. will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About The 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.