Analysts Set Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) PT at $174.40

Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $173.87.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on VLO shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Valero Energy from $130.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $138.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $167.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $198.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Valero Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $156.00 to $210.00 in a report on Friday, March 15th.

Insider Transactions at Valero Energy

In other news, Director Kimberly S. Greene sold 720 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.12, for a total transaction of $113,846.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 13,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,105,209.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Valero Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bornite Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 65.2% during the 1st quarter. Bornite Capital Management LP now owns 253,100 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $43,202,000 after purchasing an additional 99,900 shares in the last quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the first quarter valued at $969,000. Energy Income Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 32.8% in the first quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 10,116 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,727,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 4.5% in the first quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 10,115 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,727,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 3.3% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,063,923 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $352,292,000 after purchasing an additional 65,632 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VLO opened at $157.71 on Thursday. Valero Energy has a fifty-two week low of $105.66 and a fifty-two week high of $184.79. The company has a market capitalization of $51.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $165.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $143.23.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.18 by $0.64. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 24.82% and a net margin of 5.01%. The business had revenue of $31.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $32.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $8.27 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Valero Energy will post 18.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.07 per share. This represents a $4.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.20%.

Valero Energy Company Profile

Valero Energy Corporation manufactures, markets, and sells petroleum-based and low-carbon liquid transportation fuels and petrochemical products in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latin America, Mexico, Peru, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Refining, Renewable Diesel, and Ethanol.