Analyst again hikes CoreCivic target

For investors in private prison manager CoreCivic, the headlines of doom from last August — when major government customers set the stage for cutting ties — must seem like far more than six months ago. And the good news looks set to last following last week’s fourth-quarter earnings beat and guidance raise and subsequent confirmation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, says analyst Michael Kodesch of Canaccord Genuity.

Kodesch has hiked his year-end price target for Nashville-based CoreCivic to $34 from $30, leaving another 10 percent of upside to go with gains of more than 25 percent so far this year. (His target was $28 three weeks ago.) He bases that optimism on the “fervor surrounding growth opportunities with both [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] and a handful of states” — moves that are expected to more than offset a few negatives elsewhere, including a large California contract that will begin phasing out this fall.