PAR Value

The PAR value of a bond is normally 1,000.  Bond prices are quoted as a percentage of PAR, so a bond quoted at 97 is actually worth 10 times that amount, or $970.  In the case of this bond, the Price Factor of the bond in Advisors Assistant would be 10, since you must multiply the downloaded price (97) by a factor of 10 to get the price per bond.

PAR value is a nominal value of a security which is determined by an issuer company at a minimum price. PAR value of an equity (a stock) is a somewhat archaic concept. The PAR value of a stock was the share price upon initial offering; the issuing company promised not to issue further shares below PAR value, so investors could be confident that no one else was receiving a more favorable issue price. This was far more important in unregulated equity markets than in the regulated markets that exist today.

Most common stocks issued today do not have PAR values; those that do (usually only in jurisdictions where PAR values are required by law) have extremely low PAR values (often the smallest unit of currency commonly used), for example a penny PAR value on a stock issued at USD$25/share.

No-PAR stocks have no PAR value printed on its certificates. Instead of PAR value, some U.S. states allow no-PAR stocks to have a stated value, set by the board of directors of the corporation, which serves the same purpose as PAR value in setting the minimum legal capital that the corporation must have after paying any dividends or buying back its stock.

Preferred stock PAR value remains relevant, and tends to reflect issue price. Dividends on preferred stocks are calculated as a percentage of PAR value.