United Parks & Resorts (NYSE:PRKS) Sets New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

United Parks & Resorts Inc. (NYSE:PRKS)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $60.54 and last traded at $59.85, with a volume of 157238 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $58.64.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PRKS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on United Parks & Resorts from $76.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Macquarie reduced their price target on United Parks & Resorts from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on United Parks & Resorts from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Guggenheim reduced their price target on United Parks & Resorts from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on United Parks & Resorts from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.60.

United Parks & Resorts Stock Up 2.6 %

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $53.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.33. The company has a market capitalization of $3.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.70 and a beta of 2.00.

United Parks & Resorts (NYSE:PRKS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.23 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $545.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $550.47 million. United Parks & Resorts had a negative return on equity of 76.13% and a net margin of 13.85%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.92 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that United Parks & Resorts Inc. will post 3.97 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at United Parks & Resorts

In related news, Director Yoshikazu Maruyama sold 12,984 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.07, for a total transaction of $650,108.88. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 41,766 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,091,223.62. The trade was a 23.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider James Mikolaichik purchased 34,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $57.29 per share, for a total transaction of $1,947,860.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 76,267 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,369,336.43. This trade represents a 80.44 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new position in United Parks & Resorts in the 3rd quarter worth about $246,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in United Parks & Resorts in the 3rd quarter worth about $270,000. Geode Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of United Parks & Resorts during the 3rd quarter worth about $37,472,000. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC bought a new stake in shares of United Parks & Resorts during the 3rd quarter worth about $3,542,000. Finally, Barclays PLC bought a new stake in shares of United Parks & Resorts during the 3rd quarter worth about $18,222,000.

About United Parks & Resorts

United Parks & Resorts Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a theme park and entertainment company in the United States. It operates and licenses SeaWorld theme parks in Orlando, Florida; San Antonio, Texas; Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; and San Diego, California, as well as Busch Gardens theme parks in Tampa, Florida, and Williamsburg, Virginia.