GeoPark Limited (NYSE:GPRK) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

GeoPark Limited (NYSE:GPRK) saw a significant decrease in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 972,800 shares, a decrease of 16.1% from the August 15th total of 1,160,000 shares. Approximately 2.6% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 381,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded GeoPark from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th.

Institutional Trading of GeoPark

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of GeoPark by 3,251.7% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 379,483 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,139,000 after buying an additional 368,161 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new stake in GeoPark during the second quarter valued at about $2,929,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of GeoPark in the second quarter valued at about $2,261,000. Carmignac Gestion increased its stake in shares of GeoPark by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Carmignac Gestion now owns 1,118,884 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $9,589,000 after purchasing an additional 120,000 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of GeoPark by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,246,617 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $35,550,000 after purchasing an additional 61,454 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.21% of the company’s stock.

GeoPark Stock Down 1.0 %

GPRK stock traded down $0.08 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $7.75. The stock had a trading volume of 250,406 shares, compared to its average volume of 413,101. The stock has a market capitalization of $428.52 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83. GeoPark has a 1-year low of $7.24 and a 1-year high of $11.25. The company has a fifty day moving average of $9.19 and a 200 day moving average of $9.65.

GeoPark (NYSE:GPRK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The oil and gas company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.30). The business had revenue of $190.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $182.74 million. GeoPark had a net margin of 14.28% and a return on equity of 60.77%. On average, equities analysts expect that GeoPark will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GeoPark Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 29th were issued a dividend of $0.147 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 29th. This represents a $0.59 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.59%. GeoPark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.43%.

About GeoPark

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.