Parsons (NYSE:PSN) Downgraded to Strong Sell Rating by Zacks Research

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

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays decreased their price objective 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. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Parsons from $79.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Parsons from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Parsons from $67.00 to $58.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on Parsons from $66.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $64.33.

Parsons Trading Up 0.3%

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

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

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Trading of Parsons

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its position in Parsons by 0.9% during the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 17,029 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,412,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Parsons by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 47,680 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,947,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Parsons by 38.0% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 959 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of Parsons by 2.8% in the first quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 10,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $590,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Parsons by 183.6% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 553 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 358 shares during the period. 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.