Geopark (NYSE:GPRK) Stock Price Down 4.9% Following Insider Selling

Geopark Ltd (NYSE:GPRK) shares were down 4.9% during trading on Friday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $11.41 and last traded at $11.38. 522,746 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 34% from the average session volume of 790,876 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.97.

Specifically, Director James Park sold 100,000 shares of Geopark stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.92, for a total value of $1,192,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 692,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,250,046.56. The trade was a 12.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GPRK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Geopark in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Geopark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $12.00 price target on shares of Geopark in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Geopark presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.00.

Geopark Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.17. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $10.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.69. The firm has a market cap of $588.43 million, a P/E ratio of 7.74 and a beta of 0.41.

Geopark (NYSE:GPRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.10. Geopark had a return on equity of 31.33% and a net margin of 16.00%.The firm had revenue of $143.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $185.50 million.

Geopark Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th were issued a $0.023 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $0.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Geopark’s dividend payout ratio is 6.12%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Geopark

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GPRK. Pale Fire Capital SE boosted its stake in shares of Geopark by 194.4% during the 2nd quarter. Pale Fire Capital SE now owns 63,300 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $576,000 after purchasing an additional 41,800 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in Geopark in the second quarter worth about $29,000. Ramsey Quantitative Systems purchased a new stake in Geopark in the second quarter worth about $143,000. Flax Pond Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Geopark in the first quarter worth about $3,352,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in Geopark by 13.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 31,504 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $299,000 after acquiring an additional 3,823 shares in the last quarter. 68.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Geopark

Geopark Ltd. (NYSE:GPRK) is an independent oil and gas exploration and production company focused on Latin America. Founded in 2002 and with corporate offices in Canada and regional headquarters in Bogotá, Colombia, Geopark pursues the discovery and development of unconventional and conventional hydrocarbon resources. The company’s strategy emphasizes asset consolidation in established basins alongside disciplined capital allocation to maximize production efficiency.

The company’s core operations are centered in Colombia’s Llanos Basin, where it holds interests in several producing blocks that deliver light crude oil to local and export markets.