Park National (NYSE:PRK) Raised to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Park National (NYSE:PRK) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Wednesday.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a market perform rating and set a $130.00 price objective (up from $125.00) on shares of Park National in a report on Wednesday, April 24th.

Park National Stock Down 1.6 %

PRK opened at $185.61 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $145.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $136.39. Park National has a twelve month low of $91.78 and a twelve month high of $190.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.07 and a beta of 0.71.

Park National Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. Park National’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.67%.

Institutional Trading of Park National

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Park National by 6,882.5% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,566 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,271,000 after buying an additional 9,429 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Park National by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 163,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,727,000 after purchasing an additional 6,724 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Park National by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,701,106 shares of the company’s stock worth $226,009,000 after purchasing an additional 12,925 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of Park National by 74.6% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 7,164 shares of the company’s stock worth $973,000 after purchasing an additional 3,062 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Park National by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 10,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,384,000 after purchasing an additional 753 shares during the period. 62.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.