Park Dental Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:PARK) Shares Shorted: Short Interest Up 89.5% in September

Key Points

• Short interest surged 89.5% in September to 13,922 shares, though only 0.3% of PARK’s shares are sold short and the short-interest ratio remains low at 0.3 days.
• Park Dental Partners reported quarterly EPS of $0.66, beating the $0.04 consensus estimate by $0.62, on revenue of $66.21 million.
• Analyst sentiment is generally positive, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $28.50, compared with the stock’s recent price of $19.77.

Park Dental Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:PARK - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totaling 13,922 shares, an increase of 89.5% from the August 31st total of 7,348 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 54,767 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.3 days. Currently, 0.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Park Dental Partners Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:PARK opened at $19.77 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.06. Park Dental Partners has a 52 week low of $9.53 and a 52 week high of $26.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. The company has a market cap of $94.11 million and a PE ratio of 18.83.

Park Dental Partners (NASDAQ:PARK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 12th. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.04 by $0.62. The firm had revenue of $66.21 million for the quarter. As a group, research analysts expect that Park Dental Partners will post 0.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PARK. Heartland Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Park Dental Partners in the 2nd quarter worth about $4,310,000. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Park Dental Partners during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,444,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of Park Dental Partners by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 34,766 shares of the company's stock valued at $583,000 after purchasing an additional 17,383 shares during the period. Finally, BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Park Dental Partners in the 2nd quarter valued at about $120,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Park Dental Partners from a "sell (e+)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Park Dental Partners from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. Zacks Research downgraded Park Dental Partners from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Northland Securities set a $27.00 price target on Park Dental Partners in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Craig Hallum reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Park Dental Partners in a research note on Friday, August 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $28.50.

About Park Dental Partners

Park Dental Partners NASDAQ: PARK is a dental support organization that provides business and administrative services to affiliated dental practices. Its support platform is designed to help dentists manage practice operations while focusing on patient care.

The company's services may include practice administration, human resources, recruiting, information technology, marketing, purchasing, compliance, and operational support. Through its affiliated practices, Park Dental Partners serves patients seeking general and specialty dental care, including preventive, restorative, cosmetic, pediatric, and orthodontic services.

Park Dental Partners is associated with the Park Dental network, a dental practice organization established in Minnesota.

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