Short Interest in GeoPark Limited (NYSE:GPRK) Rises By 33.5%

GeoPark Limited (NYSE:GPRK) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,010,000 shares, an increase of 33.5% from the December 31st total of 756,700 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 520,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.9 days. Currently, 2.7% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Blue Trust Inc. bought a new position in GeoPark during the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in shares of GeoPark during the 3rd quarter worth about $44,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in GeoPark in the fourth quarter worth approximately $50,000. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in GeoPark by 392.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 8,974 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 7,151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Puff Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of GeoPark during the 4th quarter valued at about $121,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GPRK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of GeoPark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of GeoPark from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th.

GeoPark Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE:GPRK traded up $0.11 on Thursday, reaching $9.43. The stock had a trading volume of 618,364 shares, compared to its average volume of 894,056. The company has a market cap of $482.18 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.79 and a beta of 1.35. GeoPark has a 12-month low of $7.24 and a 12-month high of $11.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $9.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.10.

GeoPark (NYSE:GPRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.11). GeoPark had a return on equity of 57.93% and a net margin of 14.97%. The company had revenue of $159.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $156.99 million. Equities analysts expect that GeoPark will post 2.12 EPS 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 given a dividend of $0.147 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $0.59 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.24%. GeoPark’s payout ratio is currently 29.95%.

GeoPark Company Profile

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.