Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) Raises Dividend to $1.13 Per Share

Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 16th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be given a dividend of 1.13 per share by the oil and gas company on Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. This is a positive change from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.07.

Valero Energy has increased its dividend by an average of 3.0% annually over the last three years. Valero Energy has a payout ratio of 38.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Valero Energy to earn $8.20 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.28 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 52.2%.

Valero Energy Price Performance

VLO stock traded up $1.60 on Thursday, hitting $139.51. 3,211,925 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,982,106. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market cap of $44.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.42. Valero Energy has a 1-year low of $116.84 and a 1-year high of $184.79. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $131.09 and a 200-day moving average of $138.59.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The oil and gas company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.16. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 13.07% and a net margin of 2.74%. The business had revenue of $32.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $7.49 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Valero Energy will post 7.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VLO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Valero Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $173.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $172.00 to $151.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $146.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $154.57.

About Valero Energy

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.