Everence Capital Management Inc. Invests $272,000 in Park National Co. (NYSE:PRK)

Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Park National Co. (NYSE:PRK) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $272,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PRK. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Park National by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 580,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,796,000 after purchasing an additional 43,116 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Park National by 621.0% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 38,517 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,641,000 after acquiring an additional 33,175 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Park National by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 409,608 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,565,000 after acquiring an additional 28,619 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Park National by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,570,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $206,320,000 after acquiring an additional 25,819 shares during the period. Finally, CI Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Park National during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,727,000. Institutional investors own 62.65% of the company’s stock.

Park National Price Performance

NYSE PRK opened at $125.27 on Friday. Park National Co. has a 12 month low of $90.28 and a 12 month high of $137.26. The stock has a market cap of $2.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.14 and a beta of 0.70. The company’s 50 day moving average is $129.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $121.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Park National (NYSE:PRK) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.09. Park National had a net margin of 22.46% and a return on equity of 12.17%. The company had revenue of $140.73 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $119.14 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Park National Co. will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Park National Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 16th were issued a dividend of $1.06 per share. This is a positive change from Park National’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. Park National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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 target price on the stock.

About Park National

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.