PBF Energy Inc. (NYSE:PBF) shareholders won't be pleased to see that the share price has had a very rough month, dropping 30% and undoing the prior period's positive performance. Indeed, the recent drop has reduced its annual gain to a relatively sedate 4.8% over the last twelve months.
Following the heavy fall in price, PBF Energy may be sending bullish signals at the moment with its price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.1x, since almost half of all companies in the Oil and Gas industry in the United States have P/S ratios greater than 1.4x and even P/S higher than 4x are not unusual. However, the P/S might be low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.
Check out our latest analysis for PBF Energy
While the industry has experienced revenue growth lately, PBF Energy's revenue has gone into reverse gear, which is not great. Perhaps the P/S remains low as investors think the prospects of strong revenue growth aren't on the horizon. So while you could say the stock is cheap, investors will be looking for improvement before they see it as good value.
Keen to find out how analysts think PBF Energy's future stacks up against the industry? In that case, our free report is a great place to start.There's an inherent assumption that a company should underperform the industry for P/S ratios like PBF Energy's to be considered reasonable.
Retrospectively, the last year delivered a frustrating 15% decrease to the company's top line. The last three years don't look nice either as the company has shrunk revenue by 33% in aggregate. Accordingly, shareholders would have felt downbeat about the medium-term rates of revenue growth.
Turning to the outlook, the next year should generate growth of 2.4% as estimated by the eleven analysts watching the company. That's shaping up to be similar to the 3.0% growth forecast for the broader industry.
In light of this, it's peculiar that PBF Energy's P/S sits below the majority of other companies. It may be that most investors are not convinced the company can achieve future growth expectations.
The southerly movements of PBF Energy's shares means its P/S is now sitting at a pretty low level. Generally, our preference is to limit the use of the price-to-sales ratio to establishing what the market thinks about the overall health of a company.
It looks to us like the P/S figures for PBF Energy remain low despite growth that is expected to be in line with other companies in the industry. When we see middle-of-the-road revenue growth like this, we assume it must be the potential risks that are what is placing pressure on the P/S ratio. However, if you agree with the analysts' forecasts, you may be able to pick up the stock at an attractive price.
There are also other vital risk factors to consider and we've discovered 2 warning signs for PBF Energy (1 shouldn't be ignored!) that you should be aware of before investing here.
If strong companies turning a profit tickle your fancy, then you'll want to check out this free list of interesting companies that trade on a low P/E (but have proven they can grow earnings).
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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.