Par Pacific (NYSE:PARR) Trading Up 9.8% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PARR) rose 9.8% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $79.97 and last traded at $79.53. Approximately 348,585 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 1,206,699 shares. The stock had previously closed at $72.45.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Par Pacific from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Guggenheim raised Par Pacific to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Wall Street Zen raised Par Pacific from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Par Pacific from $77.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Par Pacific from $100.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.57.

Par Pacific Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $3.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.60 and a beta of 0.78. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $68.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Par Pacific (NYSE:PARR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $10.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.22 by $1.88. The business had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.40 billion. Par Pacific had a return on equity of 56.19% and a net margin of 9.94%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 56.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.54 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. will post 21.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Par Pacific news, insider Danielle Mattiussi sold 3,278 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.29, for a total transaction of $220,576.62. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,878 shares in the company, valued at $1,875,910.62. This trade represents a 10.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 3.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Par Pacific

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PARR. NewEdge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Par Pacific during the first quarter valued at about $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Par Pacific by 32.0% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 713 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Par Pacific by 81.1% in the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,340 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 1,048 shares during the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Par Pacific by 34.9% in the 4th quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 1,847 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 478 shares during the last quarter. Finally, C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. purchased a new stake in Par Pacific during the 2nd quarter valued at about $66,000. Institutional investors own 92.15% of the company’s stock.

Par Pacific Company Profile

Par Pacific Holdings, Inc (NYSE: PARR) is a diversified downstream energy company engaged in the refining, marketing and logistics of petroleum products. Through its subsidiaries, Par Pacific operates the Par Hawaii Refinery on the island of Oʻahu, which processes crude oil into transportation fuels such as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, as well as asphalt, petroleum coke and sulfur. In the Rocky Mountain region, the company owns and operates the Salt Lake City Refinery in Utah and associated logistics infrastructure, including pipelines and storage terminals, to support both crude supply and product distribution.

In marketing its refined products, Par Pacific maintains a network of branded and unbranded wholesale accounts across Hawaii and the U.S.