CoreCivic (NYSE:CXW) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of CoreCivic (NYSE:CXW) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Wednesday morning.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on CXW. Wedbush upped their target price on CoreCivic from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Northland Securities upped their price objective on CoreCivic from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th.

CoreCivic Stock Performance

CXW opened at $14.86 on Wednesday. CoreCivic has a 52-week low of $7.84 and a 52-week high of $16.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company has a market cap of $1.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.19 and a beta of 0.81. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $15.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.06.

CoreCivic (NYSE:CXW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.17). The company had revenue of $491.25 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $489.62 million. CoreCivic had a net margin of 3.56% and a return on equity of 4.70%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that CoreCivic will post 1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Anthony L. Grande sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.50, for a total transaction of $217,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 186,692 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,707,034. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Anthony L. Grande sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.50, for a total transaction of $217,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 186,692 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,707,034. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Damon T. Hininger sold 50,525 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.62, for a total value of $738,675.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 820,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,992,230.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in CoreCivic in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in CoreCivic in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in CoreCivic in the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in CoreCivic in the 4th quarter valued at $69,000. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its stake in CoreCivic by 110.6% in the 2nd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 5,387 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 2,829 shares during the last quarter. 85.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About CoreCivic

CoreCivic, Inc owns and operates partnership correctional, detention, and residential reentry facilities in the United States. It operates through three segments: CoreCivic Safety, CoreCivic Community, and CoreCivic Properties. The company provides a range of solutions to government partners that serve the public good through corrections and detention management, a network of residential reentry centers to help address America's recidivism crisis, and government real estate solutions.