The GEO Group, Inc. (NYSE:GEO) Short Interest Up 59.7% in November

The GEO Group, Inc. (NYSE:GEO) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,800,000 shares, an increase of 59.7% from the October 31st total of 5,510,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,100,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Institutional Trading of The GEO Group

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in The GEO Group by 2.5% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 35,525 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $510,000 after buying an additional 862 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of The GEO Group by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 11,096 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $143,000 after acquiring an additional 919 shares during the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The GEO Group by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 100,735 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,447,000 after acquiring an additional 1,098 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of The GEO Group by 38.5% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,874 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 1,910 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of The GEO Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Northland Securities increased their price target on shares of The GEO Group from $16.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of The GEO Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. 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 upped their price target on shares of The GEO Group from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th.

The GEO Group Price Performance

Shares of GEO stock traded down $0.18 during trading on Friday, hitting $28.51. The company had a trading volume of 1,434,236 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,685,453. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $18.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 98.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The GEO Group has a 52 week low of $9.77 and a 52 week high of $29.57.

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.