Park Aerospace (NYSE:PKE) Hits New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Park Aerospace Corp. (NYSE:PKE) shares hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $36.63 and last traded at $36.58, with a volume of 16429 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $34.60.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on PKE. Wall Street Zen cut Park Aerospace from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Park Aerospace from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy”.

Park Aerospace Stock Up 4.6%

The stock has a market capitalization of $721.27 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.16 and a beta of 0.45. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.80.

Park Aerospace Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd were issued a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 2nd. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Park Aerospace’s dividend payout ratio is 116.28%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Park Aerospace

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PKE. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC bought a new position in Park Aerospace in the first quarter worth $14,926,000. Next Century Growth Investors LLC raised its holdings in Park Aerospace by 93.0% in the fourth quarter. Next Century Growth Investors LLC now owns 526,054 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $11,226,000 after purchasing an additional 253,508 shares in the last quarter. Portolan Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Park Aerospace in the third quarter worth $4,984,000. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC bought a new position in Park Aerospace in the third quarter worth $3,060,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in Park Aerospace by 116.2% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 263,034 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $7,202,000 after purchasing an additional 141,359 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.83% of the company’s stock.

Park Aerospace Company Profile

Park Aerospace (NYSE: PKE) is a specialized materials and manufacturing company that designs, develops and produces high-performance composite structures, engineered laminates and specialty adhesives for aerospace, defense and industrial markets. Its product portfolio includes advanced honeycomb cores, composite assemblies, dielectric and high-reliability circuit materials, as well as structural and bonding solutions that meet demanding performance and weight requirements.

The company operates through two principal segments.