Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) Price Target Raised to $357.00

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLOFree Report) had its target price lifted by The Goldman Sachs Group from $286.00 to $357.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the oil and gas company’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently commented on VLO. Wolfe Research reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $203.00 price target on shares of Valero Energy in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $220.00 to $292.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 4th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $280.00 price target on shares of Valero Energy in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Valero Energy from $259.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $266.71.

Read Our Latest Research Report on VLO

Valero Energy Trading Down 0.9%

VLO opened at $302.48 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $89.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 0.55. Valero Energy has a 52 week low of $130.78 and a 52 week high of $320.24. The business’s 50 day moving average is $265.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $234.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLOGet Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $4.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.16 by $1.06. The business had revenue of $32.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.38 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 15.94% and a net margin of 3.37%.The company’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.89 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Valero Energy will post 35.11 EPS for the current year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be issued a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is currently 34.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.17, for a total transaction of $2,011,275.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 19,742 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,294,212.14. This represents a 27.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Valero Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Valero Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,111,542,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in Valero Energy in the third quarter valued at about $275,239,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 2,635.7% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 950,527 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $154,736,000 after acquiring an additional 915,782 shares during the period. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 45.3% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 2,584,976 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $638,695,000 after acquiring an additional 806,018 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Valero Energy by 49.3% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,696,811 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $276,224,000 after purchasing an additional 560,116 shares in the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting Valero Energy

Here are the key news stories impacting Valero Energy this week:

Valero Energy Company Profile

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Valero Energy Corporation is a San Antonio, Texas–based integrated downstream energy company that manufactures and markets transportation fuels, petrochemical feedstocks and other industrial products. The company’s operations focus on refining crude oil into finished fuels such as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, as well as producing asphalt and other refined product streams for commercial and industrial customers.

In addition to refining, Valero has significant operations in renewable fuels, including the production of ethanol and other biofuels, and it manages an extensive logistics network of pipelines, terminals, rail and marine assets to move feedstocks and finished products.

Further Reading

Analyst Recommendations for Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO)

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