Parsons (NYSE:PSN) Rating Lowered to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Parsons from “buy” to “hold.” Other analysts remain broadly positive: 11 rate the stock Buy, four Hold, and one Sell, with a consensus price target of $63.50.
• Several brokerages have cut their price targets, including TD Cowen to $62, Stifel Nicolaus to $66, and Citigroup to $53; shares opened at $48.84.
• Parsons beat quarterly estimates, reporting earnings of $0.89 per share versus $0.80 expected and revenue of $1.65 billion versus $1.62 billion expected. Revenue increased 1.8% year over year.

Parsons (NYSE:PSN - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued on Sunday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on PSN. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Parsons in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Parsons from $72.00 to $62.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Parsons from $79.00 to $66.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Parsons from $66.00 to $53.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised shares of Parsons from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $48.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $63.50.

Parsons Stock Performance

Shares of Parsons stock opened at $48.84 on Friday. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $45.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.69. Parsons has a 12 month low of $36.26 and a 12 month high of $88.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Parsons (NYSE:PSN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.62 billion. Parsons had a return on equity of 8.11% and a net margin of 2.33%. The business's revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.86 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Parsons will post 2.16 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Parsons

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in Parsons by 15.1% in the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,623 shares of the company's stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the period. SteelPeak Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Parsons by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 11,015 shares of the company's stock valued at $451,000 after buying an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its holdings in Parsons by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 10,900 shares of the company's stock valued at $590,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Parsons by 183.6% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 553 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Parsons by 51.5% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,438 shares of the company's stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 489 shares during the last quarter. 98.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Parsons

Parsons Corporation NYSE: PSN is a technology-driven solutions provider serving government and commercial customers in the defense, intelligence, critical infrastructure and transportation markets. The company develops and integrates solutions for complex security, engineering and infrastructure challenges, combining software, systems engineering, cybersecurity, data analytics and program management capabilities.

Parsons operates through its Federal Solutions and Critical Infrastructure segments.

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