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

Key Points

• Wall Street sentiment is cautious: PBF Energy has a consensus rating of "Reduce" from 15 analysts, with five sell ratings and seven hold ratings. The average 12-month price target is about $36.15.
• Recent earnings were mixed: The company reported EPS of -$0.88, missing expectations, but revenue came in at $7.9 billion, above forecasts and up 11.9% from a year earlier.
• PBF is paying a dividend and saw insider selling: The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.275 per share, or $1.10 annualized for a 2.8% yield. At the same time, insiders sold shares recently, including a large sale by Control Empresarial De Capital.

Shares of PBF Energy Inc. (NYSE:PBF - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Reduce" by the fifteen research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation, two have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $36.1538.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of PBF Energy in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Citigroup increased their price objective on PBF Energy from $36.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Zacks Research raised PBF Energy from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Tudor Pickering raised PBF Energy from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on PBF Energy from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Control Empresarial De Capital sold 220,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.91, for a total value of $10,100,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 18,468,698 shares of the company's stock, valued at $847,897,925.18. This trade represents a 1.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP James E. Fedena sold 77,085 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.60, for a total value of $3,823,416.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 139,016 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,895,193.60. The trade was a 35.67% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 9,668,525 shares of company stock valued at $445,714,251 over the last quarter. 5.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of PBF Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Leonteq Securities AG purchased a new stake in PBF Energy in the first quarter worth $33,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in PBF Energy by 197.7% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 887 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 589 shares during the period. Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in PBF Energy in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in PBF Energy in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in PBF Energy by 235.7% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,299 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 912 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.29% of the company's stock.

PBF Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:PBF opened at $38.70 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $4.58 billion, a PE ratio of 10.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.14 and a beta of 0.15. PBF Energy has a fifty-two week low of $17.53 and a fifty-two week high of $52.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 1.31. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $43.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.04.

PBF Energy (NYSE:PBF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.88) earnings per share 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 analysts' expectations 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 period last year, the company posted ($3.53) EPS. Equities research analysts predict that PBF Energy will post 6.7 earnings per share for the current year.

PBF Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 14th. PBF Energy's dividend payout ratio is 29.65%.

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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