Parsons (NYSE:PSN) Shares Gap Down on Disappointing Earnings

Parsons Co. (NYSE:PSN)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading 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 trading hands.

The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (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

PSN has been the topic of several recent research reports. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Parsons from $117.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Raymond James lowered shares of Parsons from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Parsons from $130.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. KeyCorp dropped their target price on Parsons from $122.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Parsons from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $107.33.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Parsons

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PSN. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its stake in Parsons by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 17,205 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,587,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Parsons in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,231,000. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Parsons in the 4th quarter valued at about $228,000. Washington Harbour Partners LP acquired a new stake in Parsons in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,282,000. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Parsons by 29.3% during the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 67,923 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,266,000 after purchasing an additional 15,404 shares during the period. 98.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Parsons Trading Down 9.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 1.55. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $88.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $95.97. The stock has a market cap of $7.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 101.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.73.

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.