Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have issued a hold recommendation, eleven have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $266.7059.

VLO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Zacks Research cut Valero Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $261.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $292.00 to $338.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Valero Energy from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 4th.

Trending Headlines about Valero Energy

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

• Positive Sentiment: Goldman Sachs raised its price target on Valero Energy to $357 from a prior level, reinforcing a bullish view and suggesting additional upside from current levels. The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) Price Target to $357.00
• Positive Sentiment: Piper Sandler reaffirmed its overweight rating and set a $329 price target, signaling continued confidence in Valero’s refining business and valuation. Valero Energy had its “overweight” rating reaffirmed by Piper Sandler
• Positive Sentiment: Valero’s board affirmed its regular quarterly dividend of $1.20 per share, which supports the stock’s appeal for income-focused investors and may be contributing to recent momentum. Valero Energy (VLO) Eyes Earnings And Crude Supply Shifts, Is The Stock Fully Priced?
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks highlighted Valero as a strong momentum stock, reflecting technical strength that can attract traders and trend-following investors. Here’s Why Valero Energy (VLO) is a Strong Momentum Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts expect Valero’s earnings to grow when it reports next week, but Zacks also said the setup does not look especially favorable for an earnings beat, creating a mixed near-term outlook. Valero Energy (VLO) Earnings Expected to Grow: What to Know Ahead of Next Week’s Release
• Neutral Sentiment: Valero was noted to be attracting unusually high investor attention on Zacks, which indicates rising interest but does not by itself change the fundamentals. Valero Energy Corporation (VLO) is Attracting Investor Attention: Here is What You Should Know
• Negative Sentiment: One report said Valero underperformed peers on Thursday, suggesting some short-term profit-taking or relative weakness versus other refiners. Valero Energy Corp. stock underperforms Thursday when compared to competitors

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Valero Energy news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 19,742 shares in the company, valued at $5,294,212.14. This trade represents a 27.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ballast Inc. raised its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Ballast Inc. now owns 6,217 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,619,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Valero Energy during the second quarter worth approximately $205,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Valero Energy during the second quarter worth approximately $286,000. Tema ETFs LLC grew its holdings in Valero Energy by 10.2% during the second quarter. Tema ETFs LLC now owns 6,270 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,633,000 after purchasing an additional 580 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HRC Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Valero Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VLO opened at $302.48 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Valero Energy has a one year low of $130.78 and a one year high of $320.24. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $265.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $234.39. The company has a market capitalization of $89.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 0.55.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $4.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.16 by $1.06. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 15.94% and a net margin of 3.37%.The company had revenue of $32.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.38 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.89 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Valero Energy will post 35.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

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

Valero Energy Company Profile

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.