GeoPark Limited (NYSE:GPRK) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

GeoPark Limited (NYSE:GPRK) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 767,700 shares, an increase of 81.7% from the May 31st total of 422,500 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 502,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.5 days. Approximately 2.1% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GeoPark

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Trexquant Investment LP increased its position in GeoPark by 21.3% during the 3rd quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 41,402 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $426,000 after purchasing an additional 7,281 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in GeoPark in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $879,000. Carmignac Gestion boosted its stake in GeoPark by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. Carmignac Gestion now owns 998,884 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $10,269,000 after purchasing an additional 145,305 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in GeoPark by 19.3% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 153,539 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,316,000 after purchasing an additional 24,877 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its stake in GeoPark by 59.1% in the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 27,260 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $234,000 after purchasing an additional 10,125 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.21% of the company’s stock.

GeoPark Trading Down 0.7 %

GPRK traded down $0.08 on Friday, reaching $10.95. 381,951 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 450,601. GeoPark has a one year low of $8.05 and a one year high of $11.25. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $10.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.39. The company has a market cap of $605.84 million, a P/E ratio of 5.37 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.47.

GeoPark (NYSE:GPRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 15th. The oil and gas company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.05). GeoPark had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 67.81%. The company had revenue of $167.42 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $192.63 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that GeoPark will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current year.

GeoPark Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st were issued a dividend of $0.147 per share. This is a positive change from GeoPark’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 31st. This represents a $0.59 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.37%. GeoPark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GPRK. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $14.00 target price on shares of GeoPark in a research note on Friday, April 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of GeoPark from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $13.17.

GeoPark Company Profile

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.