Why These Energy Stocks are Losing This Week

6. PBF Energy Inc. (NYSE:PBF)

Share Price Decline Between Dec. 10 – Dec. 17: 16.19%

PBF Energy Inc. (NYSE:PBF) is one of the largest independent petroleum refiners and suppliers of unbranded transportation fuels, heating oil, petrochemical feedstocks, lubricants, and other petroleum products in the United States.

PBF Energy Inc. (NYSE:PBF) suffered a blow on December 8 when Wolfe Research analyst Doug Leggate downgraded the stock from ‘Peer Perform’ to ‘Underperform’, while assigning it a price target of $23. The downgrade is driven by a tactical underweight in the US refining sector, with the analyst highlighting that the decline in West Coast margins has removed the necessary support for the recent absolute outperformance.

Moreover, the analyst firm expects a series of headwinds for the broader US refining sector, led by lower distillate cracks due to robust European inventories and skewed risk in the event of a Ukraine-Russia peace deal. A peaceful resolution to the ongoing war will allow Moscow to export its oil without the risk of Western sanctions and push global crude prices even lower.

That said, PBF Energy Inc. (NYSE:PBF) received some support on December 12 when Mizuho analyst Nitin Kumar upgraded the stock from ‘Underperform’ to ‘Neutral’, while also raising its price target from $31 to $38. The revised price target represents an upside potential of almost 43% from the current share price, as of the writing of this piece.