Park Dental Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:PARK) Stock Short Interest Report for September

Key Points

• Short interest surged 70.6% to 23,756 shares as of September 30, representing approximately 0.6% of PARK’s outstanding shares and 0.8 days of average trading volume.
• PARK shares recently traded at $18.92, below their 50-day average of $20.77, despite the company reporting quarterly EPS of $0.66—well above the $0.04 consensus estimate—on $66.21 million in revenue.
• Institutional investors added to their positions, while analyst sentiment remained generally positive: the stock carries a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $28.50.

Park Dental Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:PARK - Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totaling 23,756 shares, a growth of 70.6% from the September 15th total of 13,922 shares. Approximately 0.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 29,327 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.8 days.

Park Dental Partners Price Performance

Shares of PARK traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $18.92. 17,413 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 33,038. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.06 million and a PE ratio of 18.14. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.36. Park Dental Partners has a fifty-two week low of $9.53 and a fifty-two week high of $26.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

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

Institutional Trading of Park Dental Partners

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PARK. Wall Street Zen raised Park Dental Partners from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. Craig Hallum reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of Park Dental Partners in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Park Dental Partners from a "sell (e+)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, Northland Securities set a $27.00 target price on shares of Park Dental Partners in a report on Thursday, August 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $28.50.

Park Dental Partners Company Profile

Park Dental Partners, Inc is a dental support organization that provides business, administrative and operational support to affiliated dental practices. The company enables dentists and dental teams to focus on patient care while Park Dental Partners manages functions such as practice administration, technology, human resources, marketing, purchasing and other nonclinical activities.

Through its affiliated practices, the company offers a range of oral health services, including general dentistry and specialty care.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.