PBF Energy (NYSE:PBF) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of PBF Energy (NYSE:PBF) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

PBF has been the topic of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective 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. TD Cowen lifted their target price on PBF Energy from $39.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded PBF Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of PBF Energy in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on PBF Energy from $28.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, PBF Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.62.

PBF Energy Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE PBF opened at $61.74 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.64. The firm has a market cap of $7.30 billion, a PE ratio of 16.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.10 and a beta of 0.11. PBF Energy has a 1 year low of $21.24 and a 1 year high of $68.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

PBF Energy (NYSE:PBF) last posted its earnings results 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). PBF Energy had a negative return on equity of 4.12% and a net margin of 1.46%.The business had revenue of $7.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($3.53) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that PBF Energy will post 10.94 EPS for the current year.

PBF Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 14th were issued a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. PBF Energy’s payout ratio is presently 29.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PBF Energy news, insider Control Empresarial De Capital sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.52, for a total transaction of $5,452,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 15,712,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $856,625,218.56. This represents a 0.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 3,541,570 shares of company stock worth $165,787,386 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of PBF Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in PBF Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Leonteq Securities AG bought a new stake in PBF Energy in the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in PBF Energy by 65.3% in 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. acquired a new position in shares of PBF Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $57,000. 96.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PBF Energy News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting PBF Energy this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PBF was added to multiple Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) lists on July 24, including momentum, value, income, and general strong-buy screens, which can boost trader interest and signal improving analyst sentiment. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Several Zacks pieces highlighted PBF as a top-ranked growth, value, income, and momentum stock, reinforcing the idea that the name is screening well across multiple investment styles. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: PBF was featured in a “Best Momentum Stocks” article and noted as being up strongly over the past week, suggesting short-term buying momentum remains intact. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: One article compared PBF’s year-to-date performance with peers like Phillips 66, which is mainly a relative-performance check and not a direct catalyst. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Another note said PBF does not have the ideal setup for a likely earnings beat ahead of next week’s report, so investors may remain cautious until the company releases results. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Seeking Alpha published an earnings preview titled “Don’t Get Trapped At The Top”, which suggests some skepticism about upside after the recent run-up. Article Title

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.