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

Shares of PBF Energy Inc. (NYSE:PBF) gapped up before the market opened 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 trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PBF has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on PBF Energy from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of PBF Energy from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of PBF Energy from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of PBF Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Evercore started coverage on shares of PBF Energy in a research note on Friday, July 17th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $58.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $50.92.

PBF Energy Stock Down 1.1%

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 company’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.09. The firm has a market cap of $8.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.08 and a beta of 0.10.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.15 by $2.07. The firm had revenue of $11.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.61 billion. PBF Energy had a net margin of 3.94% and a return on equity of 11.27%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 56.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($1.03) EPS. Research analysts anticipate that PBF Energy Inc. will post 15.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PBF Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th were paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 14th. PBF Energy’s payout ratio is presently 9.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Thomas J. Nimbley sold 116,008 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.73, for a total transaction of $8,553,269.84. Following the sale, the director owned 793,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,522,229.01. This represents a 12.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Trecia M. Canty sold 75,000 shares of PBF Energy stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.10, for a total transaction of $5,557,500.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 191,779 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,210,823.90. The trade was a 28.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 6,163,674 shares of company stock worth $371,707,094. 5.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PBF Energy

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of PBF Energy by 6.8% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,781 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $180,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PBF Energy by 3.9% in 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 period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PBF Energy by 5.1% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 7,885 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $375,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $863,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares during the period. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in PBF Energy by 3.2% in the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 14,315 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $682,000 after purchasing an additional 441 shares in the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.