GeoPark (NYSE:GPRK) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

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

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of GeoPark from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th.

GeoPark Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of GPRK stock opened at $9.15 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $468.14 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.64 and a beta of 1.37. GeoPark has a 12-month low of $7.24 and a 12-month high of $11.72. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $8.97 and a 200-day moving average of $9.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53.

GeoPark (NYSE:GPRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The oil and gas company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $159.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.99 million. GeoPark had a net margin of 14.97% and a return on equity of 57.93%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that GeoPark will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

GeoPark Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were paid a $0.147 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $0.59 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.43%. GeoPark’s dividend payout ratio is 29.44%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On GeoPark

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GPRK. Employees Retirement System of Texas bought a new position in shares of GeoPark in the second quarter valued at about $34,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in GeoPark in the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Armstrong Fleming & Moore Inc lifted its position in GeoPark by 2.7% during the third quarter. Armstrong Fleming & Moore Inc now owns 187,726 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,477,000 after acquiring an additional 4,859 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. bought a new stake in shares of GeoPark during the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in shares of GeoPark in the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 68.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.