Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PARR) Short Interest Up 33.8% in March

Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PARR) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,210,000 shares, an increase of 33.8% from the February 28th total of 4,640,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,300,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.8 days. Approximately 12.0% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Par Pacific Stock Performance

Shares of PARR traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $14.28. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 888,320 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,020,723. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $15.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $781.53 million, a PE ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 2.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 1.69. Par Pacific has a one year low of $11.86 and a one year high of $40.20.

Par Pacific (NYSE:PARR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported ($0.79) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by ($0.64). Par Pacific had a return on equity of 10.06% and a net margin of 3.74%. The company had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Par Pacific will post 0.15 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Par Pacific from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $18.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Par Pacific from $25.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. StockNews.com lowered Par Pacific from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Par Pacific from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Par Pacific from $21.00 to $17.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.71.

Institutional Trading of Par Pacific

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Par Pacific by 232.5% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,669 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,167 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Par Pacific by 821.5% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,714 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 1,528 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in shares of Par Pacific by 55.7% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 652 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Par Pacific by 37.7% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in Par Pacific by 123.1% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 3,233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 1,784 shares during the period. 92.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Par Pacific Company Profile

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.