PBF Energy Inc (PBF): Are Hedge Funds Right About This Stock?

Judging by the fact that PBF Energy Inc (NYSE:PBF) has faced a declining sentiment from the smart money, logic holds that there lies a certain “tier” of hedge funds who were dropping their entire stakes in the third quarter. At the top of the heap, Jeffrey Gendell’s Tontine Asset Management cut the largest stake of all the hedgies followed by Insider Monkey, valued at an estimated $4.7 million in stock. Andrew Goldman’s fund, Seven Locks Capital Management, also cut its holding, about $4.3 million worth. These bearish behaviors are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest dropped by 5 funds in the third quarter.

Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as PBF Energy Inc (NYSE:PBF) but similarly valued. These stocks are AllianceBernstein Holding LP (NYSE:AB), Platform Specialty Products Corp (NYSE:PAH), Lancaster Colony Corp. (NASDAQ:LANC), and LATAM Airlines Group SA (ADR) (NYSE:LFL). This group of stocks’ market caps match PBF’s market cap.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 17 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $410 million, compared to $784 million in PBF’s case. Platform Specialty Products Corp (NYSE:PAH) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand LATAM Airlines Group SA (ADR) (NYSE:LFL) is the least popular one with only 4 bullish hedge fund positions. PBF Energy Inc (NYSE:PBF) is not the most popular stock in this group, but hedge fund interest is still above average. This is a slightly positive signal, but we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard PAH might be a better candidate to consider a long position.