Short Interest in Delek US Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:DK) Grows By 12.3%

Delek US Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:DK) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,410,000 shares, an increase of 12.3% from the October 15th total of 7,490,000 shares. Approximately 13.3% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,340,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.3 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Delek US from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 9th. Raymond James cut their price target on shares of Delek US from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 8th. StockNews.com raised Delek US from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Bank of America boosted their target price on Delek US from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 18th. Finally, TheStreet cut Delek US from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, August 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.78.

Insider Transactions at Delek US

In related news, Director Laurie Z. Tolson sold 2,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.67, for a total value of $72,009.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 12,340 shares in the company, valued at approximately $329,107.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Delek US

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. increased its position in Delek US by 44.3% during the first quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 1,582 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 486 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Delek US by 22.1% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 22,726 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $482,000 after purchasing an additional 4,120 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Delek US by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 76,831 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,630,000 after purchasing an additional 2,683 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Delek US by 55.2% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 36,779 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $780,000 after buying an additional 13,076 shares during the last quarter. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. purchased a new position in shares of Delek US during the first quarter valued at approximately $217,000. 97.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Delek US Stock Performance

DK traded up $0.21 during trading on Friday, hitting $27.63. The stock had a trading volume of 1,431,000 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,466,283. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.88, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.11. Delek US has a twelve month low of $19.39 and a twelve month high of $35.45. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $27.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $25.44.

Delek US (NYSE:DK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 7th. The oil and gas company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.66. Delek US had a net margin of 0.38% and a return on equity of 31.77%. The firm had revenue of $4.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.02 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Delek US will post 4.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delek US Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 13th will be given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 10th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.47%. This is a boost from Delek US’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Delek US’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 90.57%.

About Delek US

Delek US Holdings, Inc engages in the integrated downstream energy business in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Refining, Logistics, and Retail. The Refining segment processes crude oil and other feedstock for the manufacture of various grades of gasoline, diesel fuel, aviation fuel, asphalt, and other petroleum-based products that are distributed through owned and third-party product terminal.