PBF Energy (NYSE:PBF) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

PBF Energy Inc. (NYSE:PBF) shares gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $71.28, but opened at $73.97. PBF Energy shares last traded at $71.7540, with a volume of 260,784 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on PBF shares. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of PBF Energy from $65.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Freedom Capital lowered PBF Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Mizuho raised their target price on PBF Energy from $57.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on PBF Energy from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on PBF Energy from $62.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $50.92.

PBF Energy Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $61.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market cap of $8.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.65, a PEG ratio of 0.08 and a beta of 0.09.

PBF Energy (NYSE:PBF) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The oil and gas company reported $6.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.15 by $2.07. The company had revenue of $11.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.61 billion. PBF Energy had a net margin of 3.94% and a return on equity of 11.27%. PBF Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 56.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted ($1.03) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that PBF Energy Inc. will post 15.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PBF Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th were given a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. PBF Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.73%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Matthew C. Lucey sold 225,473 shares of PBF Energy stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.92, for a total value of $16,216,018.16. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 495,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,655,850.32. The trade was a 31.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas J. Nimbley sold 468,139 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.54, for a total value of $32,554,386.06. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 793,737 shares in the company, valued at $55,196,470.98. This represents a 37.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 5,912,674 shares of company stock worth $360,769,134 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PBF. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in PBF Energy by 6.8% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,781 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $180,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in PBF Energy by 3.9% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,850 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in shares of PBF Energy by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 7,885 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $375,000 after buying an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in shares of PBF Energy by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 28,617 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $863,000 after buying an additional 432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its holdings in shares of PBF Energy by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 14,315 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $682,000 after buying an additional 441 shares during the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About PBF Energy

PBF Energy, Inc is an independent petroleum refiner organized in 2008 and headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey. The company began trading on the New York Stock Exchange in July 2012 under the ticker symbol PBF. Since its formation, PBF Energy has grown through acquisitions and operational optimization, positioning itself as a leading supplier of refined petroleum products in the United States.

The company owns and operates five refineries located along the U.S. Gulf Coast, East Coast and in the Pacific Northwest, with a combined crude oil processing capacity of approximately 900,000 barrels per day.