Par Pacific (NYSE:PARR) Stock Price Breaks Above Fifty Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PARR)’s stock price passed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $81.64 and traded as high as $84.00. Par Pacific shares last traded at $82.9180, with a volume of 646,590 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on PARR. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Par Pacific from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $94.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Par Pacific in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $117.00 target price on shares of Par Pacific in a report on Monday, October 19th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Par Pacific from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 4th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Par Pacific from $100.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Par Pacific currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.29.

Par Pacific Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market cap of $4.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.84 and a beta of 0.75. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $81.64 and a 200 day moving average of $63.18.

Par Pacific (NYSE:PARR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $10.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.22 by $1.88. The company had revenue of $2.97 billion for 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 56.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.54 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. will post 26.88 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Par Pacific

In other Par Pacific news, Director Timothy Clossey sold 10,970 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.00, for a total transaction of $921,480.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 51,526 shares in the company, valued at $4,328,184. This represents a 17.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO William Monteleone sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.30, for a total value of $3,252,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 457,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,167,677.10. This represents a 8.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 54,248 shares of company stock worth $4,394,057. Insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Par Pacific

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PARR. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Par Pacific during the first quarter worth about $28,839,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Par Pacific in the second quarter valued at approximately $19,353,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Par Pacific in the first quarter valued at approximately $16,277,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Par Pacific by 395.9% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 133,073 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,336,000 after purchasing an additional 106,238 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Par Pacific by 24.4% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 313,605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,644,000 after purchasing an additional 61,464 shares in the last quarter. 92.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Par Pacific

Par Pacific Holdings, Inc is an energy company engaged in refining, marketing and distributing transportation fuels and other petroleum products. Its refineries process crude oil into products such as gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, marine fuels and asphalt, serving customers in western U.S. markets.

The company operates refining and related energy businesses in Hawaii, Wyoming and Washington. Its operations also include logistics assets such as storage facilities, pipelines, terminals and other infrastructure used to move and distribute crude oil and refined products.