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

Key Points

• Parsons Corporation has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating from 15 analysts, with nine buy ratings and six hold ratings. The average 12-month price target is about $76.92.
• The company recently posted stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings, reporting EPS of $0.79 versus estimates of $0.70. Revenue came in at $1.49 billion, slightly below expectations, and quarterly revenue fell 4.1% year over year.
• Company insiders have been buying shares, including CEO Carey A. Smith and Director Mark Keith Holdsworth. Institutional investors also continue to hold the stock heavily, owning about 98% of outstanding shares.

Parsons Corporation (NYSE:PSN - Get Free Report) has received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the fifteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $76.9167.

Several research analysts recently weighed in on PSN shares. Weiss Ratings lowered Parsons from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Citigroup cut their target price on Parsons from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Truist Financial cut their target price on Parsons from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Parsons in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Parsons from $78.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st.

Parsons Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of PSN opened at $52.23 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.64. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $54.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.75. Parsons has a twelve month low of $48.23 and a twelve month high of $89.50.

Parsons (NYSE:PSN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. Parsons had a return on equity of 11.52% and a net margin of 3.62%.The business's quarterly revenue was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Parsons will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Carey A. Smith purchased 12,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $49.97 per share, for a total transaction of $624,625.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer 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 ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Keith Holdsworth bought 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $51.27 per share, for a total transaction of $512,700.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 39,918 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,046,595.86. This represents a 33.42% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders bought 32,500 shares of company stock worth $1,637,325. Corporate insiders own 1.31% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Parsons

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Parsons by 2.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,077,310 shares of the company's stock worth $421,011,000 after purchasing an additional 130,694 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its position in Parsons by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 2,477,159 shares of the company's stock worth $153,088,000 after buying an additional 145,238 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its position in Parsons by 126.8% in the first quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,387,643 shares of the company's stock worth $129,339,000 after buying an additional 1,335,102 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Parsons by 10.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,892,400 shares of the company's stock worth $102,494,000 after buying an additional 179,463 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Channing Capital Management LLC grew its position in Parsons by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 1,484,039 shares of the company's stock worth $91,714,000 after buying an additional 213,312 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.02% of the company's stock.

Parsons Company Profile

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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