Par Pacific (NYSE:PARR) Sets New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PARR)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $48.50 and last traded at $48.50, with a volume of 561238 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $45.76.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Tudor Pickering raised Par Pacific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Zacks Research lowered Par Pacific from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Par Pacific from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Par Pacific in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Par Pacific from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Par Pacific currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.33.

Par Pacific Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a market capitalization of $2.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.77 and a beta of 1.17. The company’s 50 day moving average is $38.80 and its 200-day moving average is $38.35.

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

Institutional Trading of Par Pacific

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of PARR. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in Par Pacific in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,149,000. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in Par Pacific by 43.8% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 50,438 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,338,000 after purchasing an additional 15,362 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Par Pacific by 38.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 354,439 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,554,000 after buying an additional 98,524 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 681,190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Par Pacific by 83.9% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 31,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $843,000 after buying an additional 14,492 shares during the last quarter. 92.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.