Short Interest in Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PARR) Decreases By 15.7%

Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PARR) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,070,000 shares, a decrease of 15.7% from the December 15th total of 3,640,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 957,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.2 days. Currently, 5.8% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Par Pacific Stock Performance

NYSE:PARR traded down $0.52 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $17.88. 1,048,866 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 864,117. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $16.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.44. The firm has a market cap of $1.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 2.00. Par Pacific has a one year low of $14.84 and a one year high of $40.69.

Par Pacific (NYSE:PARR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.12) by $0.02. Par Pacific had a return on equity of 10.06% and a net margin of 3.74%. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.15 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 16.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Par Pacific will post 1.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on PARR shares. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Par Pacific from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $23.00 in a research report on Friday, September 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Par Pacific from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Mizuho downgraded Par Pacific from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $26.00 to $22.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Par Pacific from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Par Pacific from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.83.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director William Pate sold 67,700 shares of Par Pacific stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.22, for a total value of $1,098,094.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 524,610 shares in the company, valued at $8,509,174.20. The trade was a 11.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 4.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Par Pacific

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PARR. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in Par Pacific by 215.1% in the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,166 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 796 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Par Pacific by 232.5% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,669 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,167 shares during the period. Quarry LP grew its position in shares of Par Pacific by 610.5% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,359 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 2,027 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Par Pacific by 126.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $152,000 after purchasing an additional 4,826 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in Par Pacific during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $185,000. 92.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.