Parsons (NYSE:PSN) Shares Gap Down Following Weak Earnings

Parsons Co. (NYSE:PSN) shares gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday following a dissappointing earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $73.50, but opened at $62.36. Parsons shares last traded at $65.86, with a volume of 729,376 shares changing hands.

The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.28). Parsons had a net margin of 1.21% and a return on equity of 12.74%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on PSN. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Parsons from $103.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Parsons from $117.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. William Blair upgraded shares of Parsons from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Parsons from $130.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of Parsons from $122.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Parsons currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $107.33.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Parsons

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D purchased a new position in shares of Parsons during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,172,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of Parsons by 37.7% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 24,016 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,490,000 after purchasing an additional 6,577 shares in the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Parsons in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,004,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Parsons by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 772,808 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,146,000 after buying an additional 95,040 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Parsons by 60.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,634,155 shares of the company’s stock worth $169,429,000 after buying an additional 616,707 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.02% of the company’s stock.

Parsons Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $7.06 billion, a PE ratio of 101.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.73. The business’s 50 day moving average is $88.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $95.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 1.55.

About Parsons

Parsons Corporation provides integrated solutions and services in the defense, intelligence, and critical infrastructure markets in North America, the Middle East, and internationally. The company operates through Federal Solutions and Critical Infrastructure segments. The Federal Solutions segment provides critical technologies, such as cybersecurity; missile defense; intelligence; space launch and ground systems; space and weapon system resiliency; geospatial intelligence; signals intelligence; environmental remediation; border security, critical infrastructure protection; counter unmanned air systems; biometrics and bio surveillance solutions to U.S.