Perella Weinberg Partners (NASDAQ:PWP) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Trading surged 26% to 1.46 million shares, with PWP rising to $16.09 from a prior close of $14.64.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: the stock has a consensus “Hold” rating and a $22 average price target, despite one upgrade to “Buy” and a higher $21 target from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.
• PWP beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting $0.20 EPS and $156.5 million in revenue, but its dividend payout ratio exceeds 100% and insiders have sold shares recently.

Perella Weinberg Partners (NASDAQ:PWP - Get Free Report) saw strong trading volume on Tuesday. 1,457,232 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 26% from the previous session's volume of 1,153,433 shares. The stock last traded at $16.0930 and had previously closed at $14.64.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on PWP. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $21.00 price target (up from $19.00) on shares of Perella Weinberg Partners in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Perella Weinberg Partners from $14.50 to $16.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised Perella Weinberg Partners from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Perella Weinberg Partners from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Perella Weinberg Partners currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $22.00.

Perella Weinberg Partners Stock Performance

The business's fifty day moving average price is $15.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.67 and a beta of 1.62.

Perella Weinberg Partners (NASDAQ:PWP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.14. Perella Weinberg Partners had a net margin of 3.19% and a negative return on equity of 35.84%. The firm had revenue of $156.53 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $144.76 million.

Perella Weinberg Partners Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 28th were paid a $0.07 dividend. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 28th. Perella Weinberg Partners's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 107.69%.

Insider Activity at Perella Weinberg Partners

In other news, CEO Andrew Bednar sold 80,045 shares of Perella Weinberg Partners stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.17, for a total value of $1,374,372.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,139,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,556,853.21. The trade was a 6.57% 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last three months, insiders sold 235,697 shares of company stock valued at $4,080,379. 26.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Perella Weinberg Partners

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ranger Investment Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Perella Weinberg Partners during the 2nd quarter worth about $5,139,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in Perella Weinberg Partners by 41.6% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,316,482 shares of the company's stock valued at $23,907,000 after purchasing an additional 386,473 shares during the last quarter. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust raised its position in Perella Weinberg Partners by 14.9% in the 1st quarter. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust now owns 621,774 shares of the company's stock worth $11,291,000 after purchasing an additional 80,490 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Perella Weinberg Partners by 45.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 852,987 shares of the company's stock worth $15,488,000 after purchasing an additional 267,859 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Perella Weinberg Partners by 32.2% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,189,199 shares of the company's stock worth $82,820,000 after purchasing an additional 1,263,345 shares during the last quarter. 41.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Perella Weinberg Partners Company Profile

Perella Weinberg Partners NASDAQ: PWP is an independent global advisory firm that provides strategic and financial advice to corporations, financial sponsors, institutions and other organizations. The firm focuses on complex transactions and business situations where clients require specialized expertise and objective advice.

Its principal services include mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, restructuring and liability management, capital structure and financing advice, and other strategic matters.

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