Parsons Corporation (NYSE:PSN) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus on Parsons, with 11 buys, three holds and two sells among 16 analysts. The average 12-month price target is $64.08, above the reported share price of $45.36.
• Parsons reported a significant quarterly earnings miss, posting a loss of $0.06 per share versus the $0.76 consensus estimate, while revenue of $1.59 billion fell slightly short of expectations and declined 0.5% year over year.
• Institutional ownership remains high at 98.02%, with several major investors increasing their stakes. Director George L. Ball also purchased 20,000 shares for approximately $959,400.

Parsons Corporation (NYSE:PSN - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the sixteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and eleven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $64.0833.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Parsons from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Parsons from $69.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Parsons from $79.00 to $66.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Parsons from $66.00 to $53.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Parsons from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $52.00 price target for the company in a research note on Sunday, August 2nd.

Parsons Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PSN opened at $45.36 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.28, a PEG ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 0.71. Parsons has a 12 month low of $36.26 and a 12 month high of $89.50. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $51.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66.

Parsons (NYSE:PSN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.82). Parsons had a net margin of 2.50% and a return on equity of 8.10%. The firm had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.61 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. Parsons's revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Parsons will post 2.29 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Parsons news, Director George L. Ball acquired 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $47.97 per share, for a total transaction of $959,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 170,383 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,173,272.51. This represents a 13.30% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.31% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in shares of Parsons by 4,986.0% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,481,682 shares of the company's stock valued at $182,405,000 after buying an additional 3,413,226 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA acquired a new position in Parsons during the second quarter worth about $89,697,000. Swedbank AB grew its stake in Parsons by 126.8% during the 1st quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,387,643 shares of the company's stock valued at $129,339,000 after acquiring an additional 1,335,102 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Parsons by 389.3% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,125,767 shares of the company's stock valued at $58,979,000 after acquiring an additional 895,690 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Parsons by 151.5% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,061,614 shares of the company's stock worth $75,173,000 after purchasing an additional 639,481 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.02% of the company's stock.

Parsons Company Profile

Parsons Corporation NYSE: PSN is a technology-driven engineering, construction, technical and professional services firm. The company delivers end-to-end solutions that span feasibility studies, design and engineering, construction management, system integration and ongoing operations support. Parsons serves both government and commercial clients and focuses on critical infrastructure, defense, security, intelligence and environmental programs.

Core services include program and construction management for transportation systems, water and environmental infrastructure, cybersecurity and advanced systems integration.

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