Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the fifteen analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation, ten have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $155.86.

VLO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Valero Energy from $149.00 to $131.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Bank of America started coverage on Valero Energy in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 price target on the stock. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $146.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Valero Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $172.00 to $165.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Valero Energy from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Valero Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $15,945,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 1.8% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,293,589 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $174,673,000 after buying an additional 22,571 shares in the last quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Valero Energy in the second quarter worth about $535,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its stake in Valero Energy by 23.7% during the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 42,716 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,696,000 after buying an additional 8,198 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Valero Energy by 66.0% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,781 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,377,000 after acquiring an additional 3,492 shares during the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Valero Energy Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of VLO opened at $140.91 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.64, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.57. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $136.59 and a 200-day moving average of $145.81. Valero Energy has a 52 week low of $120.21 and a 52 week high of $184.79.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The oil and gas company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $32.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.04 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 13.07% and a net margin of 2.74%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $7.49 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Valero Energy will post 8.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $1.07 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $4.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.04%. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.39%.

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.