PBF Energy Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:PBF)

PBF Energy Inc. (NYSE:PBF) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Investors purchased 8,163 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 118% compared to the typical daily volume of 3,744 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PBF has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on shares of PBF Energy in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Mizuho upgraded PBF Energy from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $31.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of PBF Energy in a report on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup increased their price target on PBF Energy from $29.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded PBF Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PBF Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $30.21.

PBF Energy Price Performance

PBF traded up $2.27 on Tuesday, reaching $40.39. The company had a trading volume of 1,480,935 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,627,498. The company has a market capitalization of $4.72 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.43, a PEG ratio of 5.80 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The company has a fifty day moving average of $33.69 and a 200-day moving average of $32.05. PBF Energy has a one year low of $13.61 and a one year high of $47.18.

PBF Energy (NYSE:PBF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The oil and gas company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.64. The company had revenue of $7.14 billion during 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($2.82) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that PBF Energy will post -1.12 earnings per share for the current year.

PBF Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 25th. PBF Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -74.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PBF Energy news, insider Control Empresarial De Capital sold 903,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.62, for a total transaction of $38,490,122.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 26,469,098 shares in the company, valued at $1,128,112,956.76. The trade was a 3.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Thomas J. Nimbley sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.07, for a total transaction of $8,014,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 790,716 shares in the company, valued at $31,683,990.12. This trade represents a 20.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 4,212,979 shares of company stock worth $158,329,922. 6.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of PBF Energy

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PBF. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its position in PBF Energy by 3.0% during the third quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 9,575 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $289,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of PBF Energy by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 14,287 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $478,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of PBF Energy by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 25,666 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $774,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. Next Level Private LLC raised its stake in shares of PBF Energy by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Next Level Private LLC now owns 66,660 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,808,000 after acquiring an additional 378 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in PBF Energy by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 28,617 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $863,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.