Par Pacific (NYSE:PARR) Trading 6.6% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PARR) rose 6.6% during trading on Friday after Piper Sandler raised their price target on the stock from $44.00 to $62.00. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Par Pacific traded as high as $43.72 and last traded at $43.8650. Approximately 266,711 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 1,379,257 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.13.

PARR has been the subject of several other reports. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target (up from $38.00) on shares of Par Pacific in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Zacks Research upgraded Par Pacific from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Par Pacific in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Par Pacific from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Par Pacific from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.57.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Shawn David Flores sold 8,062 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.50, for a total transaction of $278,139.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 39,089 shares in the company, valued at $1,348,570.50. This represents a 17.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Ivan Daniel Guerra sold 5,500 shares of Par Pacific stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.11, for a total value of $193,105.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 17,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $614,109.01. The trade was a 23.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 36,638 shares of company stock worth $1,371,866 over the last three months. Insiders own 4.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Par Pacific

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Par Pacific in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,609,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Par Pacific by 30.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,044,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $178,680,000 after acquiring an additional 1,190,088 shares during the period. FJ Investments LLC purchased a new position in Par Pacific in the second quarter worth $26,294,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Par Pacific in the first quarter worth $12,750,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in Par Pacific by 89.9% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,438,677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,168,000 after purchasing an additional 681,190 shares during the period. 92.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Par Pacific Trading Up 6.5%

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a PE ratio of -156.43 and a beta of 1.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $37.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.42.

Par Pacific (NYSE:PARR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $5.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $3.97. Par Pacific had a negative net margin of 0.25% and a negative return on equity of 1.79%. The company had revenue of $2.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.72 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.10) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. will post 0.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Par Pacific

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.