Parsons (NYSE:PSN) Cut to Strong Sell at Zacks Research

Parsons (NYSE:PSN) was downgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the company. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Parsons in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Parsons from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Parsons from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Parsons from $79.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded shares of Parsons from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $64.33.

Parsons Trading Up 0.3%

Parsons stock opened at $47.92 on Wednesday. Parsons has a 52 week low of $36.26 and a 52 week high of $89.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.12 billion, a PE ratio of 33.05, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.68. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $54.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.37.

Parsons (NYSE:PSN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.82). The business had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. Parsons had a net margin of 2.50% and a return on equity of 8.10%. Parsons’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.78 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Parsons will post 2.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Parsons

In related news, Director George L. Ball bought 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $50.00 per share, with a total value of $500,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 150,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,519,150. This represents a 7.12% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mark Keith Holdsworth bought 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $51.27 per share, with a total value of $512,700.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 39,918 shares in the company, valued at $2,046,595.86. This trade represents a 33.42% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Parsons

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in Parsons by 654.7% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,052,541 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,047,000 after acquiring an additional 913,079 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 179,463 shares during the last quarter. Bastion Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Parsons in the fourth quarter worth about $8,044,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in shares of Parsons during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,853,000. Finally, Royce & Associates LP acquired a new position in shares of Parsons during the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,006,000. 98.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.