PBF Energy Inc. (NYSE:PBF) Receives Average Recommendation of "Reduce" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is cautious: Sixteen brokerages give PBF Energy an average “Reduce” rating, with five sells, eight holds, three buys or strong buys, and an average 12-month price target of $50.15.
• Recent financial results exceeded expectations: PBF reported quarterly EPS of $6.22 versus the $4.15 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 56.2% year over year to $11.68 billion.
• The company declared a dividend but insiders have been selling: PBF announced a quarterly dividend of $0.275 per share, representing a 1.7% annualized yield, while insiders sold roughly $235.4 million of stock over the past 90 days.

PBF Energy Inc. (NYSE:PBF - Get Free Report) has received an average recommendation of "Reduce" from the sixteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have issued a hold recommendation, two have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $50.1538.

PBF has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on PBF Energy from $62.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Zacks Research raised PBF Energy from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of PBF Energy in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on PBF Energy from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Freedom Capital lowered shares of PBF Energy from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st.

PBF Energy Trading Up 7.2%

NYSE PBF opened at $66.13 on Tuesday. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $52.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $44.37. PBF Energy has a 12 month low of $21.46 and a 12 month high of $74.74. 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 has a market capitalization of $7.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.07 and a beta of 0.10.

PBF Energy (NYSE:PBF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The oil and gas company reported $6.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.15 by $2.07. PBF Energy had a net margin of 3.94% and a return on equity of 11.27%. The firm had revenue of $11.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.61 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($1.03) earnings per share. PBF Energy's quarterly revenue was up 56.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that PBF Energy will post 15.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PBF Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. PBF Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.73%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Control Empresarial De Capital sold 490,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.26, for a total value of $34,917,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 14,992,128 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,068,339,041.28. This represents a 3.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas J. Nimbley sold 468,139 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.54, for a total transaction of $32,554,386.06. Following the sale, the director owned 793,737 shares of the company's stock, valued at $55,196,470.98. This trade represents a 37.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 4,260,935 shares of company stock worth $235,363,946 over the last 90 days. 5.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of PBF Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PBF. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of PBF Energy by 127.9% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 6,327,255 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $171,595,000 after purchasing an additional 3,550,820 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of PBF Energy by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,854,750 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $131,661,000 after purchasing an additional 60,294 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of PBF Energy by 11.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,366,331 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $207,953,000 after purchasing an additional 454,731 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of PBF Energy by 54.6% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,222,433 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $153,452,000 after purchasing an additional 1,137,533 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of PBF Energy by 147.4% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,772,258 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $83,639,000 after purchasing an additional 1,651,516 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 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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