PBF Energy (NYSE:PBF) Trading Up 4.8% – Still a Buy?

PBF Energy Inc. (NYSE:PBF)’s stock price was up 4.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $73.75 and last traded at $73.8570. 1,410,982 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 58% from the average session volume of 3,385,590 shares. The stock had previously closed at $70.47.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of PBF Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of PBF Energy from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of PBF Energy from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded PBF Energy from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on PBF Energy from $62.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $59.55.

PBF Energy Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $8.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.06 and a beta of 0.09. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $70.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 1.33.

PBF Energy (NYSE:PBF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The oil and gas company reported $6.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.15 by $2.07. The company had revenue of $11.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.61 billion. PBF Energy had a net margin of 3.94% and a return on equity of 11.27%. PBF Energy’s revenue was up 56.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted ($1.03) earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that PBF Energy Inc. will post 22.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PBF Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th were given a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 14th. PBF Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.73%.

Insider Activity

In other PBF Energy news, insider Control Empresarial De Capital sold 570,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.36, for a total value of $26,425,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 17,142,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $794,709,054.08. This trade represents a 3.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas Nimbley sold 468,139 shares of PBF Energy 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 sale, the director directly owned 793,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,196,470.98. This represents a 37.10% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 6,176,374 shares of company stock worth $392,439,037 over the last 90 days. 5.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of PBF Energy

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of PBF Energy by 128.0% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,631 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $484,000 after buying an additional 5,969 shares in the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP increased its holdings in PBF Energy by 90.4% in the 2nd quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 63,433 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,887,000 after acquiring an additional 30,117 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its position in PBF Energy by 76.0% during the second quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 8,632 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $393,000 after acquiring an additional 3,728 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in PBF Energy by 68.7% during the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,451 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 591 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP grew its position in shares of PBF Energy by 166.2% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 6,888 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $314,000 after purchasing an additional 4,300 shares during the period. 96.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PBF Energy Company Profile

PBF Energy Inc is an independent petroleum refiner and supplier of transportation fuels, heating oil, petrochemical feedstocks, lubricants, asphalt and other petroleum products. Through its refining operations, the company processes crude oil and other feedstocks into products used by commercial, industrial and consumer customers.

The company operates refineries in several regions of the United States, including the East Coast, Gulf Coast, Midwest and West Coast. Its refinery portfolio includes facilities in Delaware City, Delaware; Paulsboro, New Jersey; Toledo, Ohio; Chalmette, Louisiana; and Torrance, California.