PBF Energy (NYSE:PBF) Shares Gap Up - Here's Why

Key Points

• PBF Energy shares opened sharply higher, rising from a prior close of $71.28 to $73.97 before settling near $71.75.
• The company reported strong quarterly results, with earnings per share of $6.22 versus the $4.15 consensus estimate and revenue of $11.68 billion, up 56.2% year over year.
• Despite the earnings strength and a $0.275 quarterly dividend, analyst sentiment remains cautious: the consensus rating is “Reduce” with a $50.92 target price, while insiders sold more than 6.1 million shares over the past three months.

Shares of PBF Energy Inc. (NYSE:PBF - Get Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $71.28, but opened at $73.97. PBF Energy shares last traded at $71.7540, with a volume of 260,784 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of PBF Energy in a report on Friday, August 7th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of PBF Energy from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of PBF Energy from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Evercore started coverage on shares of PBF Energy in a report on Friday, July 17th. They issued an "in-line" rating and a $58.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of PBF Energy from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $50.92.

PBF Energy Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $60.64 and a 200 day moving average of $48.09. The company has a market capitalization of $8.36 billion, a PE ratio of 6.24, a PEG ratio of 0.08 and a beta of 0.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

PBF Energy (NYSE:PBF - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $11.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.61 billion. PBF Energy had a net margin of 3.94% and a return on equity of 11.27%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 56.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($1.03) EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that PBF Energy Inc. will post 15.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PBF Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th were issued a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 14th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. PBF Energy's payout ratio is presently 9.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Matthew C. Lucey sold 225,473 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.92, for a total value of $16,216,018.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 495,771 shares in the company, valued at $35,655,850.32. This represents a 31.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Thomas J. Nimbley sold 468,139 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 793,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,196,470.98. The trade was a 37.10% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 6,163,674 shares of company stock valued at $371,707,094. Insiders own 5.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Corient Private Wealth LP boosted its stake in shares of PBF Energy by 200.5% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 40,681 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $1,852,000 after acquiring an additional 27,142 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in shares of PBF Energy by 4,932.4% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 5,096,920 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $232,012,000 after acquiring an additional 4,995,638 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PBF Energy in the 2nd quarter worth $374,000. AlphaGrep UK Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of PBF Energy in the 2nd quarter worth $390,000. Finally, Nykredit A S bought a new position in PBF Energy in the 2nd quarter worth $149,000. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by 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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