Par Pacific (NYSE:PARR) Trading Up 4.5% – Time to Buy?

Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PARR) shares rose 4.5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $80.70 and last traded at $80.47. Approximately 192,006 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 1,192,986 shares. The stock had previously closed at $77.04.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on PARR. Zacks Research cut shares of Par Pacific from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Par Pacific from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Guggenheim raised shares of Par Pacific to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on shares of Par Pacific from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Evercore raised Par Pacific to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.57.

Par Pacific Stock Up 3.4%

The stock has a market cap of $3.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.65 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $70.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.23.

Par Pacific (NYSE:PARR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $10.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.22 by $1.88. The company had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.40 billion. Par Pacific had a net margin of 9.94% and a return on equity of 56.19%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 56.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.54 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. will post 21.33 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Danielle Mattiussi sold 3,278 shares of the company’s 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 owned 27,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,875,910.62. This represents a 10.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Par Pacific

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Corient Private Wealth LP raised its holdings in Par Pacific by 12.8% in the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 5,826 shares of the company’s stock valued at $327,000 after acquiring an additional 663 shares during the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in shares of Par Pacific in the second quarter valued at $3,017,000. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in Par Pacific by 5,095.4% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,120,123 shares of the company’s stock valued at $174,976,000 after purchasing an additional 3,060,068 shares during the last quarter. Oakmont Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Par Pacific in the second quarter valued at $224,000. Finally, Nykredit A S acquired a new stake in Par Pacific in the 2nd quarter worth about $215,000. 92.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.