Alps Advisors Inc. Makes New Investment in PBF Energy Inc. $PBF

Alps Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in PBF Energy Inc. (NYSE:PBF) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 8,240 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $634,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PBF. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of PBF Energy by 54.6% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,222,433 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $153,452,000 after acquiring an additional 1,137,533 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of PBF Energy by 11.6% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,366,331 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $207,953,000 after buying an additional 454,731 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of PBF Energy by 198.0% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 355,820 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $16,944,000 after buying an additional 236,418 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of PBF Energy by 361.1% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 189,148 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $8,718,000 after buying an additional 148,124 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP purchased a new position in shares of PBF Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $5,341,000. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on PBF. Freedom Capital cut shares of PBF Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Freedom Broker upgraded PBF Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $63.00 in a report on Monday, November 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on PBF Energy from $81.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of PBF Energy in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of PBF Energy from $38.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PBF Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.50.

PBF Energy Stock Up 0.4%

PBF opened at $71.21 on Friday. PBF Energy Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.62 and a 1 year high of $92.46. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $77.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.59. The company has a market cap of $8.64 billion, a PE ratio of 3.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.07 and a beta of 0.15.

PBF Energy (NYSE:PBF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The oil and gas company reported $12.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.12 by $1.66. PBF Energy had a net margin of 6.98% and a return on equity of 34.92%. The company had revenue of $12.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.52) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 58.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that PBF Energy Inc. will post 27.10 earnings per share for the current year.

PBF Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 12th will be issued a $0.3250 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 12th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. This is an increase from PBF Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.2750. PBF Energy’s payout ratio is currently 5.81%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Control Empresarial De Capital sold 315,776 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.78, for a total value of $24,561,057.28. Following the transaction, the insider owned 13,866,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,078,507,358.06. The trade was a 2.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Thomas J. Nimbley sold 125,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.55, for a total transaction of $9,318,750.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 793,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,173,093.35. The trade was a 13.61% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 1,422,800 shares of company stock worth $112,428,831 over the last three months. 5.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

PBF Energy Company Profile

PBF Energy is an independent petroleum refiner and supplier headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey. Founded in 2008, the company operates refineries in several U.S. regions, including the East Coast, Midwest, Gulf Coast and West Coast. PBF processes crude oil and other feedstocks into transportation fuels and other petroleum products. Its product slate includes gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, heating oil, lubricants and petrochemical feedstocks, which it supplies to wholesale and commercial customers.