Zacks Research Upgrades PBF Energy (NYSE:PBF) to “Hold”

PBF Energy (NYSE:PBF) was upgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

PBF has been the subject of several other reports. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $34.00 price target on shares of PBF Energy in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Wolfe Research lowered PBF Energy from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $23.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, December 8th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of PBF Energy from $37.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Tudor Pickering upgraded shares of PBF Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “sell” rating on shares of PBF Energy in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PBF Energy has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $30.21.

PBF Energy Trading Up 1.4%

NYSE:PBF opened at $34.37 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.71. PBF Energy has a one year low of $13.61 and a one year high of $41.47. The firm has a market cap of $3.98 billion, a P/E ratio of -23.38, a P/E/G ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 1.21.

PBF Energy (NYSE:PBF) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $7.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. PBF Energy had a negative net margin of 0.54% and a negative return on equity of 8.86%. PBF Energy’s revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted ($2.82) earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that PBF Energy will post -1.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at PBF Energy

In related news, insider Control Empresarial De Capital sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.79, for a total value of $110,370.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 28,440,198 shares in the company, valued at $1,046,314,884.42. This trade represents a 0.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold 2,385,879 shares of company stock worth $82,719,180 over the last 90 days. 5.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 589 shares during the last quarter. Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in PBF Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lifted its stake in PBF Energy by 62.3% during the 3rd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,146 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PBF Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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. 96.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.