Hedge Funds Are Crazy About PBF Energy Inc (PBF)

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Is PBF Energy Inc (NYSE:PBF) a buy, sell, or hold? Money managers are taking a bullish view. The number of bullish hedge fund bets increased by 3 recently.

If you’d ask most traders, hedge funds are viewed as slow, outdated financial vehicles of the past. While there are over 8000 funds trading at the moment, we choose to focus on the upper echelon of this group, close to 450 funds. Most estimates calculate that this group controls most of the smart money’s total capital, and by keeping an eye on their best picks, we have brought to light a number of investment strategies that have historically outstripped the S&P 500 index. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outstripped the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points annually for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve started sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have trumped the S&P 500 index by 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (see all of our picks from August).

PENNANT CAPITAL MANAGEMENTJust as important, positive insider trading activity is another way to parse down the marketplace. As the old adage goes: there are plenty of stimuli for an executive to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would initiate a purchase. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this strategy if shareholders know where to look (learn more here).

Now, it’s important to take a peek at the latest action regarding PBF Energy Inc (NYSE:PBF).

What have hedge funds been doing with PBF Energy Inc (NYSE:PBF)?

Heading into Q2, a total of 22 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 16% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings substantially.

Of the funds we track, PAR Capital Management, managed by Paul Reeder and Edward Shapiro, holds the largest position in PBF Energy Inc (NYSE:PBF). PAR Capital Management has a $23 million position in the stock, comprising 0.7% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Ascend Capital, managed by Malcolm Fairbairn, which held a $22.2 million position; 0.7% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Some other hedgies that hold long positions include Alan Fournier’s Pennant Capital Management, Michael Lowenstein’s Kensico Capital and Kevin D. Eng’s Columbus Hill Capital Management.

As aggregate interest increased, some big names were breaking ground themselves. PAR Capital Management, managed by Paul Reeder and Edward Shapiro, created the biggest position in PBF Energy Inc (NYSE:PBF). PAR Capital Management had 23 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Kevin D. Eng’s Columbus Hill Capital Management also initiated a $15 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new PBF investors: Stanley Druckenmiller’s Duquesne Capital, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, and Neil Chriss’s Hutchin Hill Capital.

How are insiders trading PBF Energy Inc (NYSE:PBF)?

Insider buying is most useful when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest half-year time frame, PBF Energy Inc (NYSE:PBF) has seen 1 unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to PBF Energy Inc (NYSE:PBF). These stocks are World Fuel Services Corporation (NYSE:INT), CVR Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CVI), Western Refining, Inc. (NYSE:WNR), and InterOil Corporation (USA) (NYSE:IOC). All of these stocks are in the oil & gas refining & marketing industry and their market caps match PBF’s market cap.

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