The GEO Group Blasts Upward To Another New 52-Week High

It might be the hottest real estate stock traded right now. 

The GEO Group Inc. GEO blasted higher on Nov. 29 with a remarkable one-day gain of 16.13%. This outdid the benchmark Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund XLRE, which closed the day up by 1.72 %.

See also: What's Going On With Geo Group Stock Today?

GEO also outperformed the Standard & Poor’s 500, which traded at -0.16% for the day. Clearly, this company is getting attention.

The GEO Group made its name by investing mainly in private prisons and prison systems. On its website, the company calls them “privately operated criminal detention facilities.” The GEO Group works with governments, and analysts place the company in the healthcare facilities group.

The stock now trades with a price-earnings ratio of 19 and at 1.07 times book value. Investors are definitely looking to the future as this year’s funds from operations are off by 38% and the past five-year record is negative by 15%. GEO’s long-term debt exceeds shareholder equity. No dividend is paid.

The company’s market capitalization is $1.23 billion, relatively small for the sector. To compare: The largest publicly traded real estate operator, American Tower Corp. AMT, has a market cap of $99.54 billion. The GEO Group has an average daily volume of 2.09 million shares.

Here’s the daily price chart for The GEO Group:

The 16.23% straight-up blast comes on good volume as well, a confirming indicator of the move. The relative strength indicator (RSI) below the price chart is now in the “overbought” range which might suggest that profit-taking may be due. Note how both the 50-day moving average (the blue line) and the 200-day moving average (the red line) are trending upward.

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