Global Partners (NYSE:GLP) Sees Strong Trading Volume - Here's What Happened

Global Partners LP (NYSE:GLP - Get Free Report) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Friday . Approximately 53,829 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 27% from the previous session's volume of 73,497 shares.The stock last traded at $52.13 and had previously closed at $52.49.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Global Partners from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $56.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th.

Global Partners Price Performance

The company's 50-day simple moving average is $50.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.93 and a beta of 1.02.

Global Partners (NYSE:GLP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The energy company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.39. Global Partners had a net margin of 0.82% and a return on equity of 22.07%. The firm had revenue of $4.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.64 billion. Research analysts forecast that Global Partners LP will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Partners Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th were given a $0.745 dividend. This represents a $2.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.65%. This is an increase from Global Partners's previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. Global Partners's payout ratio is presently 94.60%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Mark Romaine sold 2,195 shares of Global Partners stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.06, for a total value of $118,661.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 156,198 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,444,063.88. The trade was a 1.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 41.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GLP. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Global Partners by 4,555.0% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,818,750 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $270,863,000 after acquiring an additional 5,693,750 shares during the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Global Partners by 12.8% in the first quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 5,584,745 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $298,114,000 after acquiring an additional 635,126 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in Global Partners by 14.9% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,849,454 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $98,724,000 after acquiring an additional 240,342 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Global Partners in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,510,000. Finally, Pallas Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Global Partners by 8.1% during the first quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,601,904 shares of the energy company's stock worth $85,510,000 after buying an additional 119,924 shares during the last quarter. 38.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Global Partners

Global Partners LP engages in the purchasing, selling, gathering, blending, storing, and logistics of transporting gasoline and gasoline blendstocks, distillates, residual oil, renewable fuels, crude oil, and propane to wholesalers, retailers, and commercial customers. The company operates through three segments: Wholesale, Gasoline Distribution and Station Operations, and Commercial.