PBF Energy (NYSE:PBF) Shares Up 6.2% – Still a Buy?

PBF Energy Inc. (NYSE:PBF)’s stock price shot up 6.2% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $42.51 and last traded at $42.1150. 346,185 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 3,648,071 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.65.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PBF shares. Tudor Pickering raised PBF Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Citigroup lifted their price target on PBF Energy from $29.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on shares of PBF Energy in a report on Monday, January 5th. Zacks Research raised shares of PBF Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of PBF Energy in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $30.31.

PBF Energy Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $4.88 billion, a PE ratio of -28.34, a P/E/G ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 1.21. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $33.96 and a 200-day moving average of $32.16.

PBF Energy (NYSE:PBF) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The oil and gas company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.64. The company had revenue of $7.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.17 billion. PBF Energy had a negative return on equity of 8.86% and a negative net margin of 0.54%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($2.82) EPS. Research analysts forecast that PBF Energy Inc. will post -1.12 earnings per share for the current year.

PBF Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. PBF Energy’s payout ratio is presently -74.83%.

Insider Activity at PBF Energy

In other news, insider Control Empresarial De Capital sold 903,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.62, for a total transaction of $38,490,122.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 26,469,098 shares in the company, valued at $1,128,112,956.76. The trade was a 3.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Thomas J. Nimbley sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.07, for a total transaction of $8,014,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 790,716 shares in the company, valued at $31,683,990.12. This trade represents a 20.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 4,212,979 shares of company stock worth $158,329,922. Company insiders own 5.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PBF. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of PBF Energy by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 9,575 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in PBF Energy by 2.5% in the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 14,287 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $478,000 after buying an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in PBF Energy by 1.4% during the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 25,666 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $774,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Next Level Private LLC grew its position in PBF Energy by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Next Level Private LLC now owns 66,660 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,808,000 after acquiring an additional 378 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in PBF Energy by 1.5% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 28,617 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $863,000 after acquiring an additional 432 shares in the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.