Park National (PRK) vs. Its Rivals Critical Contrast

Park National (NYSE:PRK) is one of 920 publicly-traded companies in the “Banks” industry, but how does it compare to its peers? We will compare Park National to similar companies based on the strength of its valuation, profitability, risk, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Park National and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Park National	0	5	0	0	2.00
Park National Competitors	7457	30157	27705	1451	2.35

Park National presently has a consensus price target of $196.50, suggesting a potential upside of 11.91%. As a group, “Banks” companies have a potential upside of 17.36%. Given Park National’s peers stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Park National has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

62.7% of Park National shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 47.9% of shares of all “Banks” companies are held by institutional investors. 2.2% of Park National shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 9.8% of shares of all “Banks” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Park National pays an annual dividend of $4.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Park National pays out 38.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Banks” companies pay a dividend yield of 9.5% and pay out 28.9% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Park National has increased its dividend for 8 consecutive years. Park National lags its peers as a dividend stock, given its lower dividend yield and higher payout ratio.

Profitability

This table compares Park National and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Park National	23.46%	12.31%	1.50%
Park National Competitors	15.38%	9.45%	0.93%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Park National and its peers top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Park National	$623.80 million	$151.42 million	15.43
Park National Competitors	$292.34 billion	$2.41 billion	18.80

Park National’s peers have higher revenue and earnings than Park National. Park National is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Risk and Volatility

Park National has a beta of 0.72, suggesting that its stock price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Park National’s peers have a beta of 0.60, suggesting that their average stock price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Park National peers beat Park National on 9 of the 15 factors compared.

Park National Company Profile

Park National Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Park National Bank that provides commercial banking and trust services in small and medium population areas. The company offers deposits for demand, savings, and time accounts; trust and wealth management services; cash management services; safe deposit operations; electronic funds transfers; Internet and mobile banking solutions with bill pay service; credit cards; and various additional banking-related services. It also provides commercial loans, including financing for industrial and commercial properties, financing for equipment, inventory and accounts receivable, acquisition financing, and commercial leasing, as well as for consumer finance companies; commercial real estate loans comprising mortgage loans to developers and owners of commercial real estate; originates financing leases primarily for the purchase of commercial vehicles, operating/manufacturing equipment, and municipal vehicles/equipment; consumer loans, such as automobile loans; consumer finance services; home equity lines of credit; and residential real estate and construction loans, as well as installment loans and commercial loans. In addition, the company offers aircraft financing services; and ParkDirect, a personal banking application. Park National Corporation was founded in 1908 and is headquartered in Newark, Ohio.