Par Pacific (NYSE:PARR) Hits New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Shares of Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PARR) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $66.90 and last traded at $66.63, with a volume of 41139 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $64.79.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on PARR. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Par Pacific in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Par Pacific from $49.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Wall Street Zen raised Par Pacific from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Par Pacific from $39.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Raymond James Financial increased their target price on shares of Par Pacific from $50.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.50.

Par Pacific Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $3.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.07 and a beta of 0.97. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $48.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 1.61.

Par Pacific (NYSE:PARR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by ($0.04). Par Pacific had a net margin of 4.95% and a return on equity of 30.19%. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.79) EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. will post 0.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Par Pacific

In related news, CEO William Monteleone sold 108,948 shares of Par Pacific stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.06, for a total transaction of $5,889,728.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 457,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,714,448.02. The trade was a 19.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 4.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Par Pacific

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PARR. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in Par Pacific in the 3rd quarter worth $1,149,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Par Pacific by 38.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 354,439 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,554,000 after purchasing an additional 98,524 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Par Pacific by 24.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 705,832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,001,000 after acquiring an additional 140,514 shares during the last quarter. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC bought a new stake in Par Pacific in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,286,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Par Pacific by 30.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,044,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $178,680,000 after buying an additional 1,190,088 shares during the period. 92.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Par Pacific

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.