PBF Energy Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:PBF)

PBF Energy Inc. (NYSE:PBF) saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 9,006 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 76% compared to the typical daily volume of 5,119 call options.

Insider Activity at PBF Energy

In related news, insider Control Empresarial De Capital sold 570,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider directly owned 17,142,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $794,709,054.08. This represents a 3.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,591,570 shares of company stock valued at $116,278,586. 5.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PBF Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in PBF Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PBF Energy in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Leonteq Securities AG purchased a new position in shares of PBF Energy during the first quarter valued at $33,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised 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. acquired a new position in PBF Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $57,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

PBF Energy Price Performance

NYSE:PBF traded up $3.84 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $52.30. 1,503,099 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,373,271. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a market capitalization of $6.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.15 and a beta of 0.11. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $42.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.70. PBF Energy has a one year low of $21.24 and a one year high of $52.57.

PBF Energy (NYSE:PBF) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.88) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.79) by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $7.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.32 billion. PBF Energy had a negative return on equity of 4.12% and a net margin of 1.46%.PBF Energy’s revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($3.53) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that PBF Energy will post 8.55 EPS for the current year.

PBF Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 2.1%. PBF Energy’s payout ratio is 29.65%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on PBF shares. TD Cowen upgraded shares of PBF Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Morgan Stanley increased 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. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of PBF Energy from $43.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of PBF Energy in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered PBF Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, PBF Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $36.69.

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.