Par Pacific (NYSE:PARR) Trading Up 5.7% – Here’s Why

Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PARR) shares traded up 5.7% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $18.15 and last traded at $17.90. 98,742 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 645,786 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.93.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Par Pacific from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $37.00 to $23.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Par Pacific from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Par Pacific from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Mizuho lowered Par Pacific from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $26.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Par Pacific from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.50.

Par Pacific Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $972.45 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 2.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.59.

Par Pacific (NYSE:PARR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.88 billion. Par Pacific had a net margin of 3.74% and a return on equity of 10.06%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 16.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.15 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. will post 1.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director William Pate sold 67,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.22, for a total transaction of $1,098,094.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 524,610 shares in the company, valued at $8,509,174.20. This represents a 11.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 4.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Par Pacific

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Par Pacific during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $61,870,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Par Pacific by 10.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,461,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,919,000 after acquiring an additional 328,325 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Par Pacific by 0.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,136,956 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,956,000 after acquiring an additional 17,509 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Par Pacific by 48.4% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,952,754 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,307,000 after acquiring an additional 636,908 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Par Pacific by 13.9% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,435,794 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,254,000 after purchasing an additional 175,331 shares during the last quarter. 92.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Par Pacific Company Profile

Par Pacific Holdings, Inc owns and operates energy and infrastructure businesses. The company operates through Refining, Retail, and Logistics segments. The Refining segment owns and operates refineries that produce gasoline, distillate, asphalt, and other products primarily for consumption in Kapolei, Hawaii, Newcastle, Wyoming, Tacoma, Washington, and Billings, Montana.