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

Key Points

• Parsons Corporation has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from analysts, with a 12-month target price averaging $88.70.
• Recent analyst upgrades include a revision from neutral to outperform by Robert W. Baird and a price objective increase to $92.00.
• The company reported earnings of $0.78 EPS for the last quarter, beating expectations, despite a 5.1% year-over-year revenue decline.

Shares of Parsons Corporation (NYSE:PSN - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the thirteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have assigned a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $88.70.

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Parsons from a "market perform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $90.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on shares of Parsons in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $81.00 price objective for the company. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Parsons from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Parsons from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $92.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of Parsons from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Parsons

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Parsons by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,952,299 shares of the company's stock valued at $293,226,000 after acquiring an additional 376,764 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new position in shares of Parsons in the first quarter worth $136,183,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Parsons by 15.2% in the second quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 2,114,579 shares of the company's stock worth $151,763,000 after buying an additional 279,244 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Parsons by 72.5% during the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,889,281 shares of the company's stock valued at $135,594,000 after purchasing an additional 793,807 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Channing Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Parsons by 20.3% in the second quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 1,277,286 shares of the company's stock valued at $91,671,000 after acquiring an additional 215,106 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.02% of the company's stock.

Parsons Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PSN traded down $0.53 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $79.82. 390,037 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,371,716. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $75.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.12. The stock has a market cap of $8.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.60, a PEG ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.58. Parsons has a one year low of $54.56 and a one year high of $114.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Parsons (NYSE:PSN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.60 billion. Parsons had a net margin of 3.70% and a return on equity of 12.36%. The company's revenue was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.84 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Parsons will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Parsons Company Profile

Parsons Corporation provides integrated solutions and services in the defense, intelligence, and critical infrastructure markets in North America, the Middle East, and internationally. The company operates through Federal Solutions and Critical Infrastructure segments. The Federal Solutions segment provides critical technologies, such as cybersecurity; missile defense; intelligence; space launch and ground systems; space and weapon system resiliency; geospatial intelligence; signals intelligence; environmental remediation; border security, critical infrastructure protection; counter unmanned air systems; biometrics and bio surveillance solutions to U.S.