Parsons (NYSE:PSN) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Parsons (NYSE:PSN) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Monday,Zacks reports.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on PSN. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Parsons from $69.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Citigroup lowered their target price on Parsons from $66.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Parsons from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Parsons in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Parsons from $67.00 to $58.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.00.

Parsons Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PSN opened at $42.00 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.49 billion, a PE ratio of 28.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.72. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $45.86 and a 200-day moving average of $51.39. Parsons has a one year low of $36.26 and a one year high of $89.50.

Parsons (NYSE:PSN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.82). The company had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.61 billion. Parsons had a return on equity of 8.10% and a net margin of 2.50%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Parsons will post 2.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director George Ball purchased 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $47.97 per share, for a total transaction of $959,400.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 170,383 shares in the company, valued at $8,173,272.51. The trade was a 13.30% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Parsons

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Parsons by 10.5% in the 1st 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 period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Parsons during the second quarter valued at about $9,053,000. Primecap Management Co. CA acquired a new stake in shares of Parsons in the second quarter valued at about $89,697,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in shares of Parsons in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,853,000. Finally, Goodman Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Parsons by 44.7% in the first quarter. Goodman Financial Corp now owns 319,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,288,000 after purchasing an additional 98,560 shares during the period. 98.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Parsons

Parsons Corporation (NYSE: PSN) is a technology-driven engineering, infrastructure and defense contractor. The company provides solutions for government and commercial customers in areas including national security, intelligence, cybersecurity, space, missile defense, transportation, environmental remediation, water and energy.

Parsons organizes its operations around Federal Solutions and Critical Infrastructure. Its offerings include systems engineering, program management, software and technology development, cyber and intelligence services, engineering and construction management, infrastructure modernization, and environmental services.