Global Partners (NYSE:GLP) Stock Price Down 6.4% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Global Partners shares fell 6.4% on Friday, trading as low as $47.82 and closing at $46.46 on lighter-than-normal volume.
• Analysts are mixed but generally constructive: the stock now has an average rating of "Buy" with an average price target of $46.00, while recent notes included both upgrades and a downgrade.
• The company recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.765 per share, implying an annualized yield of about 6.6%; it also beat EPS estimates in its latest quarter, though revenue came in below expectations.

Global Partners LP (NYSE:GLP - Get Free Report) shares traded down 6.4% on Friday . The company traded as low as $47.82 and last traded at $46.46. 21,830 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 59% from the average session volume of 53,331 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.64.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Global Partners from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Global Partners from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Global Partners from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Global Partners from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, May 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $46.00.

Global Partners Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 1.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.76 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a 50-day moving average of $47.65 and a 200-day moving average of $46.13.

Global Partners (NYSE:GLP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The energy company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $1.52. The firm had revenue of $5.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.98 billion. Global Partners had a return on equity of 24.23% and a net margin of 0.77%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Global Partners LP will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a $0.765 dividend. This represents a $3.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This is an increase from Global Partners's previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. Global Partners's dividend payout ratio is presently 85.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Global Partners news, COO Mark Romaine sold 2,020 shares of Global Partners stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.19, for a total value of $97,343.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 141,609 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,824,137.71. The trade was a 1.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 21,311 shares of company stock valued at $1,014,249. 41.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Global Partners

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Alps Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Global Partners by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 5,999,844 shares of the energy company's stock worth $251,093,000 after acquiring an additional 277,875 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Global Partners by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,937,895 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $93,019,000 after buying an additional 85,347 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Global Partners by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 608,283 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $25,457,000 after buying an additional 67,337 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Global Partners by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 440,167 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $18,421,000 after buying an additional 50,890 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG grew its stake in shares of Global Partners by 26.6% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 235,024 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $11,281,000 after buying an additional 49,319 shares during the period. 38.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Global Partners Company Profile

Global Partners LP is a publicly traded master limited partnership engaged in the wholesale distribution and retail marketing of petroleum products. The company sources refined petroleum products from major refineries and suppliers and transports them through an integrated network of pipelines, terminals and storage facilities. Global Partners focuses on delivering fuel and related services to commercial, industrial and residential customers, positioning itself as a key midstream and downstream energy operator in its core markets.

Through its extensive terminal network in the northeastern United States and eastern Canada, Global Partners supplies gasoline, diesel, home heating oil, kerosene, propane and biofuels to a broad customer base.

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