Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New $957,000 Investment in Park National Co. (NYSE:PRK)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Park National Co. (NYSE:PRK) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 7,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $957,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Numerai GP LLC purchased a new stake in Park National in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $200,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Park National by 60.9% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,609 shares of the company’s stock worth $214,000 after purchasing an additional 609 shares in the last quarter. FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Park National in the 4th quarter worth approximately $238,000. Fruth Investment Management purchased a new position in shares of Park National during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $239,000. Finally, Sabal Trust CO purchased a new position in shares of Park National during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $266,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PRK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Park National in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $130.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded Park National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $130.00 target price (up previously from $125.00) on shares of Park National in a research report on Wednesday.

Park National Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of PRK stock opened at $137.25 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $129.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $122.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.37 and a beta of 0.70. Park National Co. has a fifty-two week low of $90.28 and a fifty-two week high of $137.52.

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

Park National Dividend Announcement

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

Park National 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.