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 report report published on Monday.

Separately, Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Park National in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. They set a neutral rating and a $130.00 price objective for the company.

Park National Stock Performance

Shares of PRK opened at $137.25 on Monday. Park National has a 52-week low of $90.28 and a 52-week high of $137.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.21 billion, a PE ratio of 17.37 and a beta of 0.70. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $129.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $122.78.

Park National (NYSE:PRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.09. Park National had a net margin of 22.03% and a return on equity of 12.28%. The company had revenue of $140.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $119.14 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Park National will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Park National Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a dividend of $1.06 per share. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. Park National’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.67%.

Institutional Trading of Park National

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Park National by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 457,745 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,818,000 after purchasing an additional 10,266 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted 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 in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Park National by 44.8% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 55,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,412,000 after purchasing an additional 17,271 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Park National by 5.0% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 54,207 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,124,000 after purchasing an additional 2,579 shares in the last quarter. 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.