Hits Leverage Ratio Early. At quarter's end, the leverage ratio was 2.7x, at the top end of the Company's 2.25-2.75x goal, down from 3.2x at the end of 2Q21 and down from 4.0x at the end of 3Q20. The target was achieved roughly nine months sooner than we had expected highlighting not only management's focus on reducing net debt, but the overall resiliency of the business model.Debt Reduction. CoreCivic repaid $187.5 million of debt in 3Q21, net of the change in cash, including fully paying off its revolving credit facility, which remains undrawn. Subsequent to quarter's end, the Company paid down $90 million, or 40%, of its Term B loan using cash on hand. CoreCivic ended the quarter with $455.5 million of cash.Implications Going Forward. So what now? Given the expected use of cash in 4Q21, we would not be surprised to see the leverage ratio climb modestly but we would anticipate the de-leveraging to continue in 2022. Cash on hand and 2022 cash flows could be sufficient to pay off all debt due through the end of 2024. And we expect stock buybacks to enter the capital allocation discussion.3Q21 Results. CoreCivic reported strong third quarter results after the market closed yesterday. Revenue came in at $471.2 million, compared to $468.3 million in the same period last year. The Company reported net income of $30.0 million, or $0.25 per share, compared to $26.7 million, or $0.22 per share last year. Adjusted EPS of $0.28 was flat y-o-y. On a proforma basis to reflect the adoption of a C-corp structure EPS was $0.25 versus $0.21 last year. We had projected revenue of $455 million and EPS of $0.17.Call. Management will host an investor call this morning at 11am ET to discuss the quarter's results. Dial-in is 800-4347-2398, passcode 1667596. We will provide additional commentary and update our models following the call. Read More >>