Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Lowers Stake in PBF Energy Inc. $PBF

Key Points

• Allspring Global Investments cut its stake in PBF by 88.0% in Q4, selling 299,781 shares and leaving it with 41,024 shares worth about $1.17 million.
• Significant insider and institutional selling: Control Empresarial De Capital sold 1.1 million shares (~$50.8M) on March 18, insiders sold ~11.47 million shares (~$500.5M) over 90 days, while institutions still own ~96.3% of the stock.
• Fundamentals and sentiment are mixed-to-negative: PBF beat quarterly EPS but showed weak margins and negative ROE, the consensus analyst rating is "Reduce" with an average target of $32.92, and the shares were trading down roughly 5.4% near $40.69.

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lessened its position in shares of PBF Energy Inc. (NYSE:PBF - Free Report) by 88.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,024 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 299,781 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC's holdings in PBF Energy were worth $1,170,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of PBF Energy by 147.4% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,772,258 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $83,639,000 after buying an additional 1,651,516 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of PBF Energy by 230.7% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,085,060 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $45,183,000 after buying an additional 1,454,500 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of PBF Energy by 2,198.8% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,212,368 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $36,577,000 after buying an additional 1,159,628 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of PBF Energy by 276.2% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,028,799 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $22,294,000 after buying an additional 755,310 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in shares of PBF Energy by 2,760.1% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 503,804 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $10,917,000 after buying an additional 486,189 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.29% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting PBF Energy

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst target increase — At least one firm raised PBF’s price target by ~16.3% to $42.93, signaling some analyst optimism about the shares and providing a technical/valuation boost. PBF Energy (PBF) price target increased by 16.33% to 42.93
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent results mixed — PBF beat EPS estimates for its last quarter (reported Feb. 12) but showed weak margins and negative ROE, with analysts still forecasting negative full‑year EPS. That makes fundamentals a mixed/uncertain support for the stock in the near term.
• Negative Sentiment: Market shock from oil — A sharp decline in oil prices drove broad weakness in energy/refining names and is cited as the immediate market reason PBF fell sharply today. Refiners can be sensitive to crude swings and market sentiment. PBF Energy (PBF) Loses 6.8% as Oil Prices Nosedive
• Negative Sentiment: Large, ongoing insider selling — Control Empresarial De Capital has been selling sizable blocks of PBF shares in late March and early April (multiple transactions totaling many millions), including a recent sale of 70,000 shares at about $47.10. Heavy insider disposition can sap investor confidence and add selling pressure. PBF Energy NYSE: PBF Insider Sells $3,297,000.00 in Stock
• Negative Sentiment: Street sentiment weak — The consensus analyst stance is negative ("Reduce"), and several firms maintain Hold/Reduce views with an average target below recent trading levels, which can limit upside until fundamentals or commodity trends change. PBF Energy Inc. NYSE: PBF Given Consensus Rating of "Reduce" by Analysts

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Control Empresarial De Capital sold 1,100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.21, for a total value of $50,831,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 22,996,898 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,062,686,656.58. This represents a 4.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold a total of 11,466,825 shares of company stock valued at $500,523,457 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 5.50% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PBF. Citigroup upped their target price on PBF Energy from $29.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d)" rating on shares of PBF Energy in a research report on Monday, December 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on PBF Energy from $33.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Zacks Research raised PBF Energy from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Scotiabank raised PBF Energy to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $32.92.

PBF Energy Trading Down 5.4%

Shares of PBF opened at $40.69 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.76 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 0.25. PBF Energy Inc. has a one year low of $14.35 and a one year high of $52.18. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $40.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.86.

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

PBF Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 25th were issued a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. PBF Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently -74.83%.

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.

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