GeoPark (NYSE:GPRK) Downgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of GeoPark (NYSE:GPRK) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Thursday morning.

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on GeoPark from $11.50 to $12.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th.

GeoPark Stock Performance

GPRK stock opened at $7.99 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $8.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $442.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.16. GeoPark has a 1 year low of $7.24 and a 1 year high of $11.25.

GeoPark (NYSE:GPRK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The oil and gas company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.30). GeoPark had a net margin of 14.28% and a return on equity of 60.77%. The firm had revenue of $190.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $182.74 million. On average, research analysts predict that GeoPark will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

GeoPark Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 29th were paid a dividend of $0.147 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 29th. This represents a $0.59 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.36%. GeoPark’s payout ratio is 28.43%.

Institutional Trading of GeoPark

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GPRK. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in GeoPark during the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Employees Retirement System of Texas bought a new stake in shares of GeoPark in the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of GeoPark in the second quarter valued at $35,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in GeoPark during the first quarter valued at about $192,000. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC acquired a new position in GeoPark during the second quarter worth about $244,000. 68.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About GeoPark

GeoPark Limited engages in the exploration, development, and production of oil and gas reserves in Chile, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, and Ecuador. GeoPark Limited has a strategic partnership with ONGC Videsh to jointly acquire, invest in, and create value from upstream oil and gas projects across Latin America.