Parsons Corporation (NYSE:PSN) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Parsons Corporation has a consensus analyst rating of "Moderate Buy" from 15 brokerages, with nine buy ratings and six hold ratings. The average 1-year price target is about $75.82.
• The company recently reported better-than-expected earnings of $0.79 per share, beating estimates by $0.09, though revenue of $1.49 billion came in slightly below forecasts and was down 4.1% year over year.
• Insider buying has been notable, with CEO Carey A. Smith and Director George L. Ball purchasing shares in recent months, while institutional investors continue to hold the vast majority of the stock.

Shares of Parsons Corporation (NYSE:PSN - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the fifteen brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $75.8182.

PSN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Parsons in a research report on Monday, April 13th. BNP Paribas Exane set a $65.00 target price on shares of Parsons and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. KeyCorp cut shares of Parsons from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Parsons from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating on shares of Parsons in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th.

Parsons Price Performance

Parsons stock opened at $54.08 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $5.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.87, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $54.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.98. Parsons has a 52 week low of $46.88 and a 52 week high of $89.50.

Parsons (NYSE:PSN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.50 billion. Parsons had a return on equity of 11.52% and a net margin of 3.62%.The company's revenue was down 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Parsons will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Parsons

In other news, CEO Carey A. Smith purchased 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $49.97 per share, for a total transaction of $624,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 575,376 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $28,751,538.72. This trade represents a 2.22% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director George L. Ball purchased 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $50.00 per share, with a total value of $500,000.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 150,383 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,519,150. The trade was a 7.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders have bought 32,500 shares of company stock worth $1,637,325 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.31% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Parsons

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PSN. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Parsons by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 2,477,159 shares of the company's stock worth $153,088,000 after acquiring an additional 145,238 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in shares of Parsons by 126.8% in the 1st quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,387,643 shares of the company's stock valued at $129,339,000 after purchasing an additional 1,335,102 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Parsons by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,892,400 shares of the company's stock valued at $102,494,000 after purchasing an additional 179,463 shares during the last quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Parsons by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 1,484,039 shares of the company's stock valued at $91,714,000 after purchasing an additional 213,312 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.02% of the company's stock.

About Parsons

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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