Zacks Research Upgrades PBF Energy (NYSE:PBF) to “Strong-Buy”

PBF Energy (NYSE:PBF) was upgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on PBF. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on PBF Energy from $43.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of PBF Energy in a report on Monday, May 11th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of PBF Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of PBF Energy from $43.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of PBF Energy from $39.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, PBF Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.62.

PBF Energy Price Performance

PBF Energy stock opened at $61.74 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.64, a PEG ratio of 0.10 and a beta of 0.11. PBF Energy has a one year low of $21.24 and a one year high of $68.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $46.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.64.

PBF Energy (NYSE:PBF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.88) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.79) by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $7.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.32 billion. PBF Energy had a net margin of 1.46% and a negative return on equity of 4.12%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($3.53) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that PBF Energy will post 10.94 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PBF Energy news, insider Control Empresarial De Capital sold 100,000 shares of PBF Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.52, for a total transaction of $5,452,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 15,712,128 shares in the company, valued at $856,625,218.56. The trade was a 0.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 3,541,570 shares of company stock valued at $165,787,386 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PBF Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in PBF Energy by 63.6% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 30,932 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $590,000 after acquiring an additional 12,025 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in PBF Energy by 4.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 59,723 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,140,000 after acquiring an additional 2,609 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in PBF Energy by 4.9% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 261,704 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,996,000 after purchasing an additional 12,289 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in PBF Energy by 261.0% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 3,256 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 2,354 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new stake in PBF Energy during the second quarter worth about $1,143,000. Institutional investors own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

Key PBF Energy News

Here are the key news stories impacting PBF Energy this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PBF was added to multiple Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) lists on July 24, including momentum, value, income, and general strong-buy screens, which can boost trader interest and signal improving analyst sentiment. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Several Zacks pieces highlighted PBF as a top-ranked growth, value, income, and momentum stock, reinforcing the idea that the name is screening well across multiple investment styles. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: PBF was featured in a “Best Momentum Stocks” article and noted as being up strongly over the past week, suggesting short-term buying momentum remains intact. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: One article compared PBF’s year-to-date performance with peers like Phillips 66, which is mainly a relative-performance check and not a direct catalyst. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Another note said PBF does not have the ideal setup for a likely earnings beat ahead of next week’s report, so investors may remain cautious until the company releases results. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Seeking Alpha published an earnings preview titled “Don’t Get Trapped At The Top”, which suggests some skepticism about upside after the recent run-up. Article Title

PBF Energy Company Profile

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.