PBF Energy (NYSE:PBF) Trading Up 7.9% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of PBF Energy Inc. (NYSE:PBF) shot up 7.9% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $66.71 and last traded at $66.5610. Approximately 2,017,320 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 40% from the average session volume of 3,376,869 shares. The stock had previously closed at $61.71.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on PBF shares. Freedom Capital lowered PBF Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research raised PBF Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of PBF Energy in a report on Friday. Mizuho upped their target price on PBF Energy from $57.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on PBF Energy from $62.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $50.15.

PBF Energy Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $7.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.85, a P/E/G ratio of 0.07 and a beta of 0.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 1.33. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.13.

PBF Energy (NYSE:PBF) last posted its 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. The company had revenue of $11.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.61 billion. PBF Energy had a return on equity of 11.27% and a net margin of 3.94%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 56.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($1.03) earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that PBF Energy Inc. will post 15.74 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, August 28th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. PBF Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Thomas J. Nimbley sold 468,139 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.54, for a total value of $32,554,386.06. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 793,737 shares in the company, valued at $55,196,470.98. This represents a 37.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Matthew C. Lucey sold 225,473 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.92, for a total transaction of $16,216,018.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 495,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,655,850.32. This represents a 31.26% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 4,260,935 shares of company stock valued at $235,363,946 in the last three months. 5.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PBF Energy

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Leonteq Securities AG bought a new position in shares of PBF Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of PBF Energy during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of PBF Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in PBF Energy by 65.3% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,466 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 579 shares during the period. Finally, Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new stake in PBF Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $57,000. Institutional investors own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

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.