GeoPark (NYSE:GPRK) Stock Price Down 4.4% – Time to Sell?

GeoPark Limited (NYSE:GPRK)’s share price fell 4.4% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $10.89 and last traded at $10.90. 530,020 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 37% from the average session volume of 847,592 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.40.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on GPRK. StockNews.com cut shares of GeoPark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on GeoPark from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th.

GeoPark Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $535.90 million, a P/E ratio of 5.32 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.28. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $9.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.18.

GeoPark (NYSE:GPRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.11). GeoPark had a net margin of 14.97% and a return on equity of 57.93%. The company had revenue of $159.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $156.99 million. On average, analysts forecast that GeoPark Limited will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

GeoPark Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were paid a $0.147 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $0.59 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.61%. GeoPark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.95%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On GeoPark

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Annex Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in GeoPark by 25.5% during the fourth quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 161,620 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,498,000 after purchasing an additional 32,870 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of GeoPark by 77.4% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 366,380 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,883,000 after buying an additional 159,861 shares during the period. DGS Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of GeoPark in the 3rd quarter worth $148,000. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of GeoPark by 392.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 8,974 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 7,151 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in GeoPark during the third quarter valued at $44,000. Institutional investors own 68.21% of the company’s stock.

About GeoPark

GeoPark Limited operates as an oil and natural gas exploration and production company primarily in Chile, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, and other Latin American countries. It engages in the exploration, development, and production of oil and gas reserves. The company was formerly known as GeoPark Holdings Limited and changed its name to GeoPark Limited in July 2013.