GeoPark Limited (NYSE:GPRK) Short Interest Up 43.0% in March

GeoPark Limited (NYSE:GPRK) was the target of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,360,000 shares, a growth of 43.0% from the February 28th total of 1,650,000 shares. Approximately 6.3% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 778,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.0 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GeoPark

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in shares of GeoPark during the 3rd quarter worth $294,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC acquired a new position in GeoPark during the third quarter worth about $2,834,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of GeoPark by 67.6% in the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 79,674 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $627,000 after acquiring an additional 32,131 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of GeoPark in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of GeoPark by 392.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 8,974 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 7,151 shares during the last quarter. 68.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of GeoPark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th.

GeoPark Price Performance

Shares of GPRK remained flat at $8.08 during trading hours on Tuesday. The stock had a trading volume of 544,176 shares, compared to its average volume of 532,136. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53. GeoPark has a 12 month low of $7.24 and a 12 month high of $11.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $413.40 million, a P/E ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.37. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $8.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $8.87.

GeoPark (NYSE:GPRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 5th. The oil and gas company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.43). The firm had revenue of $143.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $141.00 million. GeoPark had a return on equity of 57.93% and a net margin of 14.97%. Analysts anticipate that GeoPark will post 1.97 EPS for the current year.

GeoPark Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 19th were paid a $0.147 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 19th. This represents a $0.59 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.28%. GeoPark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.22%.

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.