BNP Paribas Exane Initiates Coverage on Parsons (NYSE:PSN)

Analysts at BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on shares of Parsons (NYSE:PSN) in a research report issued on Tuesday. The firm set an “underperform” rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Parsons from $104.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Parsons in a report on Sunday, May 3rd. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Parsons from $78.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Parsons from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, KeyCorp cut Parsons from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.17.

Parsons Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PSN traded up $1.38 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $55.09. 343,637 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,264,805. Parsons has a fifty-two week low of $48.23 and a fifty-two week high of $89.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market cap of $5.89 billion, a PE ratio of 26.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $53.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.13.

Parsons (NYSE:PSN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.09. Parsons had a return on equity of 11.52% and a net margin of 3.62%.The company had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. Parsons’s revenue was down 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Parsons will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Parsons

In other news, Director George L. Ball bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $50.00 per share, for a total transaction of $500,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 150,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,519,150. The trade was a 7.12% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Carey A. Smith bought 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $49.97 per share, with a total value of $624,625.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 575,376 shares in the company, valued at $28,751,538.72. This trade represents a 2.22% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders acquired 32,500 shares of company stock worth $1,637,325. 1.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Parsons

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in Parsons in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Parsons in the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in Parsons in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Parsons in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in Parsons in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.02% of the company’s stock.

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.