Park Dental Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:PARK) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Key Points

• Short interest increased 54.2% to 8,971 shares as of July 31, representing approximately 0.2% of Park Dental Partners’ outstanding stock and 0.6 days of average trading volume.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $28.50, despite mixed individual rating changes.
• The company reported quarterly EPS of $0.66, exceeding the $0.04 consensus estimate, on revenue of $66.21 million; several institutional investors also initiated or expanded positions.

Park Dental Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:PARK - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest in July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totaling 8,971 shares, an increase of 54.2% from the July 15th total of 5,816 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 15,893 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.6 days. Approximately 0.2% of the company's stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Research downgraded Park Dental Partners from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Park Dental Partners from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. Northland Securities set a $27.00 target price on Park Dental Partners in a research report on Thursday. Craig Hallum reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Park Dental Partners in a report on Friday. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Park Dental Partners from a "sell (e)" rating to a "sell (e+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $28.50.

Park Dental Partners Price Performance

Park Dental Partners stock opened at $22.51 on Tuesday. Park Dental Partners has a 12 month low of $9.53 and a 12 month high of $26.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $19.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.54. The company has a market cap of $101.76 million and a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.64.

Park Dental Partners (NASDAQ:PARK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.04 by $0.62. The firm had revenue of $66.21 million during the quarter. Sell-side analysts forecast that Park Dental Partners will post 0.36 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Park Dental Partners

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Park Dental Partners during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,444,000. Heartland Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Park Dental Partners in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $4,310,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Park Dental Partners during the 2nd quarter valued at $120,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of Park Dental Partners by 100.0% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 34,766 shares of the company's stock worth $583,000 after acquiring an additional 17,383 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Park Dental Partners during the fourth quarter worth $1,522,000.

About Park Dental Partners

Park Dental Partners NASDAQ: PARK is a dental support organization that provides business and administrative services to affiliated dental practices. The company focuses on enabling dental clinicians to concentrate on patient care by delivering centralized non-clinical functions that support day-to-day operations and practice growth.

Services typically offered by Park Dental Partners include practice management, billing and revenue cycle management, procurement and supply-chain support, information technology, human resources, marketing and patient acquisition, and regulatory and compliance assistance.

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