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

PBF Energy Inc. (NYSE:PBF) saw unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Traders bought 8,163 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 118% compared to the average volume of 3,744 put options.

PBF Energy Stock Up 3.9%

NYSE:PBF opened at $39.61 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.51. PBF Energy has a 1-year low of $13.61 and a 1-year high of $47.18. The company has a 50-day moving average of $33.96 and a 200 day moving average of $32.16. The firm has a market cap of $4.63 billion, a PE ratio of -26.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 0.41.

PBF Energy (NYSE:PBF) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The oil and gas company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.64. PBF Energy had a negative return on equity of 8.86% and a negative net margin of 0.54%.The business had revenue of $7.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($2.82) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that PBF Energy will post -1.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PBF Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 25th. PBF Energy’s payout ratio is -74.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on PBF shares. Wolfe Research lowered shares of PBF Energy from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $23.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of PBF Energy in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research upgraded PBF Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Mizuho upgraded PBF Energy from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $31.00 to $38.00 in a report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on PBF Energy from $29.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $30.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Control Empresarial De Capital sold 205,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.57, for a total value of $9,546,850.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 26,264,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,223,119,043.86. The trade was a 0.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Paul T. Davis sold 50,000 shares of PBF Energy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.80, for a total transaction of $2,240,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 183,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,217,484.80. The trade was a 21.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 4,212,979 shares of company stock worth $158,329,922. Corporate insiders own 6.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PBF Energy

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in PBF Energy by 3.0% in the third quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 9,575 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of PBF Energy by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 14,287 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $478,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in shares of PBF Energy by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 25,666 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $774,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Next Level Private LLC grew its stake in PBF Energy by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Next Level Private LLC now owns 66,660 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,808,000 after buying an additional 378 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in PBF Energy by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 28,617 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $863,000 after buying an additional 432 shares in the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PBF Energy Company 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.