GeoPark (NYSE:GPRK) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

GeoPark Limited (NYSE:GPRK)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $9.70, but opened at $10.56. GeoPark shares last traded at $10.33, with a volume of 506,947 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on GPRK. StockNews.com cut shares of GeoPark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on GeoPark from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th.

GeoPark Stock Up 4.2 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53. The company has a market capitalization of $517.23 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.34 and a beta of 1.31. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $8.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.18.

GeoPark (NYSE:GPRK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $159.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $156.99 million. GeoPark had a net margin of 14.97% and a return on equity of 57.93%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that GeoPark Limited will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GeoPark Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.147 per share. This represents a $0.59 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.82%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. GeoPark’s payout ratio is 29.95%.

Institutional Trading of GeoPark

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of GeoPark during the 1st quarter worth approximately $192,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of GeoPark during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Annex Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of GeoPark in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $594,000. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP purchased a new position in GeoPark in the second quarter valued at approximately $460,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of GeoPark in the second quarter valued at $2,261,000. 68.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.