PBF Energy (NYSE:PBF) Cut to "Hold" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded PBF Energy from "buy" to "hold"; across analysts there are 2 buys, 8 holds and 5 sells, leaving a consensus rating of "Reduce" with an average target price of $33.54.
• Shares are down about 12.6% and opened at $37.27; the company reported quarterly EPS of $0.49 (beating the -$0.15 estimate) but still has a negative net margin and sell-side analysts forecast -1.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.
• Significant insider selling occurred (including 50,000 shares by an SVP and 70,000 by a major insider), with insiders selling 11.1M shares worth $488M last quarter, while institutional ownership is very high (~96.3%) and Goldman Sachs recently raised its stake to about 6.33M shares.

PBF Energy (NYSE:PBF - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of PBF Energy in a research note on Friday, April 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $49.00 price objective for the company. Zacks Research raised shares of PBF Energy from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Tudor Pickering raised shares of PBF Energy from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of PBF Energy from $43.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank raised shares of PBF Energy to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $33.54.

PBF Energy Stock Down 12.6%

Shares of NYSE PBF opened at $37.27 on Friday. PBF Energy has a 12-month low of $14.54 and a 12-month high of $52.18. The stock has a market cap of $4.36 billion, a PE ratio of -25.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.22 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The company has a 50-day moving average of $41.36 and a 200 day moving average of $35.20.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at PBF Energy

In other PBF Energy news, SVP Paul T. Davis sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.48, for a total transaction of $2,574,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 183,426 shares in the company, valued at $9,442,770.48. This represents a 21.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Control Empresarial De Capital sold 70,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.10, for a total transaction of $3,297,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 19,253,698 shares in the company, valued at approximately $906,849,175.80. This trade represents a 0.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 11,100,825 shares of company stock valued at $488,323,877 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 5.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PBF Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in PBF Energy by 127.9% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 6,327,255 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $171,595,000 after buying an additional 3,550,820 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in PBF Energy by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,854,750 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $131,661,000 after buying an additional 60,294 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in PBF Energy by 147.4% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in PBF Energy by 20.1% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,503,283 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $75,524,000 after buying an additional 418,223 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in PBF Energy by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,400,702 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $65,108,000 after buying an additional 331,404 shares in the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.