Wall Street Zen Downgrades Par Pacific (NYSE:PARR) to Buy

Par Pacific (NYSE:PARR) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

PARR has been the topic of a number of other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Par Pacific from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Mizuho raised their price target on Par Pacific from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Par Pacific from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Piper Sandler set a $57.00 target price on Par Pacific in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Par Pacific currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.00.

Par Pacific Stock Up 6.3%

Shares of PARR stock opened at $43.38 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.77. Par Pacific has a twelve month low of $11.86 and a twelve month high of $48.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 1.51. The company has a market capitalization of $2.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.13 and a beta of 1.23.

Par Pacific (NYSE:PARR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $5.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $3.97. Par Pacific had a return on equity of 23.69% and a net margin of 3.15%.The company had revenue of $2.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.72 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.10) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Par Pacific will post 0.15 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Par Pacific

In other news, CEO William Monteleone sold 99,284 shares of Par Pacific stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.15, for a total transaction of $4,284,104.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 423,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,253,399.30. This trade represents a 19.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 4.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Par Pacific

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Par Pacific by 157.4% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,596 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 976 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Par Pacific during the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Par Pacific in the third quarter valued at about $48,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in Par Pacific by 81.1% in the second quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,340 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 1,048 shares in the last quarter. Finally, USA Financial Formulas bought a new position in Par Pacific during the third quarter worth about $82,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.15% of the company’s stock.

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.