Principal Financial Group Inc. Boosts Stake in PBF Energy Inc. $PBF

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in PBF Energy Inc. (NYSE:PBF) by 4.7% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 186,598 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 8,361 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in PBF Energy were worth $8,886,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of PBF Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PBF Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Leonteq Securities AG purchased a new stake in shares of PBF Energy in the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of PBF Energy by 65.3% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,466 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new stake in shares of PBF Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $57,000. Institutional investors own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

PBF Energy Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE PBF opened at $61.74 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 1.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.64, a PEG ratio of 0.10 and a beta of 0.11. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $46.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.72. PBF Energy Inc. has a 52-week low of $21.24 and a 52-week high of $68.33.

PBF Energy (NYSE:PBF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.88) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.79) by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $7.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.32 billion. PBF Energy had a negative return on equity of 4.12% and a net margin of 1.46%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned ($3.53) EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that PBF Energy Inc. will post 10.94 earnings per share for the current year.

PBF Energy Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on PBF shares. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on PBF Energy from $28.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of PBF Energy in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Citigroup lifted their target price on PBF Energy from $43.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of PBF Energy from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Evercore assumed coverage on shares of PBF Energy in a report on Friday, July 17th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $58.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.62.

Key PBF Energy News

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Control Empresarial De Capital sold 570,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.36, for a total transaction of $26,425,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 17,142,128 shares in the company, valued at approximately $794,709,054.08. This trade represents a 3.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,541,570 shares of company stock worth $165,787,386. 5.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

PBF Energy 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.