The Geo Group (GEO) issued an update on its FY13 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of $1.70-1.80 for the period, compared to the Thomson Reuters consensus estimate of $1.65. The company issued revenue guidance of $1.51-1.55 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $1.68 billion.The Geo Group also updated its Q1 guidance to $0.38-0.40 EPS.

Shares of The Geo Group (GEO) opened at 33.13 on Thursday. The Geo Group (GEO) has a 52 week low of $16.90 and a 52 week high of $34.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average is currently $31.86. The company has a market cap of $2.021 billion and a P/E ratio of 28.34.

The Geo Group last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 21st. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the analysts’ consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $378.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $414.70 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.39 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. The Geo Group has set its Q1 guidance at $0.38-0.40 EPS and its FY13 guidance at $1.70-1.80 EPS. Analysts expect that The Geo Group (GEO) will post $1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which is scheduled for Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 15th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 13th. This is a positive change from The Geo Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20.

A number of research firms have also recently commented on GEO. Analysts at Zacks upgraded shares of The Geo Group from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research note to investors on Wednesday, January 9th. They now have a $32.80 price target on the stock. On a related note, analysts at Barclays Capital raised their price target on shares of The Geo Group from $30.00 to $34.00 in a research note to investors on Tuesday, January 8th. They now have an equal weight rating on the stock. Finally, analysts at Dawson James downgraded shares of The Geo Group to a market perform rating in a research note to investors on Tuesday, December 4th.

The GEO Group, Inc. (GEO) is a provider of government-outsourced services specializing in the management of correctional, detention and mental health and residential treatment facilities in the United States, Canada, Australia, South Africa and the United Kingdom.

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