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Geo Group (GEO) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: What You Should Know

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Geo Group (GEO - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $7.41, moving -0.8% from the previous trading session. This change lagged the S&P 500's 1.15% gain on the day.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the private prison operator had lost 6.16% over the past month. This has lagged the Finance sector's loss of 3.14% and the S&P 500's loss of 4.67% in that time.

GEO will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.57, down 14.93% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $551.53 million, down 4.77% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $2.57 per share and revenue of $2.24 billion, which would represent changes of +2.39% and -4.89%, respectively, from the prior year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for GEO. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection remained stagnant. GEO is holding a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) right now.

Investors should also note GEO's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 2.91. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 17.35, so we one might conclude that GEO is trading at a discount comparatively.

Meanwhile, GEO's PEG ratio is currently 0.29. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. The REIT and Equity Trust - Other was holding an average PEG ratio of 2.95 at yesterday's closing price.

The REIT and Equity Trust - Other industry is part of the Finance sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 100, which puts it in the top 40% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.


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