StockNews.com Upgrades Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) to “Buy”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Monday morning.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Valero Energy from $177.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Argus cut Valero Energy from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Mizuho cut their price target on Valero Energy from $176.00 to $171.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Bank of America upgraded Valero Energy from a neutral rating to a buy rating and upped their price target for the stock from $156.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Valero Energy from $179.00 to $173.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Valero Energy presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $171.47.

Valero Energy Price Performance

VLO stock opened at $158.55 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $51.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.85, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.42. Valero Energy has a twelve month low of $112.16 and a twelve month high of $184.79. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $157.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $150.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $32.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $8.27 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Valero Energy will post 16.09 EPS for the current year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 30th were paid a $1.07 dividend. This represents a $4.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 30th. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is 21.20%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Valero Energy news, Director Kimberly S. Greene sold 720 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.12, for a total value of $113,846.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,105,209.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Valero Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VLO. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 4,981 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $648,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,005,346 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $142,468,000 after purchasing an additional 55,351 shares during the period. Stiles Financial Services Inc raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 49.7% in the 4th quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 7,615 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $991,000 after purchasing an additional 2,529 shares during the period. MGO One Seven LLC raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 198.8% in the 4th quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 16,605 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,159,000 after purchasing an additional 11,047 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,788,994 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $362,569,000 after purchasing an additional 342,218 shares during the period. 78.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.