Citigroup Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) Stock

Key Points

• Citigroup raised its price target on Valero to $246 from $212 but kept a "neutral" rating, implying only about a 4.7% upside from the prior close.
• Several major brokers (UBS, Raymond James, BMO) also boosted targets and ratings—some as high as $290—leaving Valero with an average analyst target of $230 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Valero recently beat quarterly expectations with $3.82 EPS vs. $3.27 expected, trades near $235 with a market cap of ~$70.3B, and remains mostly institutionally owned (~78.7%).

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO - Get Free Report) had its target price lifted by investment analysts at Citigroup from $212.00 to $246.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "neutral" rating on the oil and gas company's stock. Citigroup's price objective suggests a potential upside of 4.69% from the company's previous close.

VLO has been the subject of a number of other reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $215.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $215.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $197.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Valero Energy in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Valero Energy presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $230.00.

Valero Energy Trading Down 0.3%

VLO stock traded down $0.59 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $234.99. 1,606,973 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,839,924. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.64. Valero Energy has a one year low of $106.25 and a one year high of $258.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.27 billion, a PE ratio of 30.76, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.62. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $223.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $190.57.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.55. Valero Energy had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 12.35%. The business had revenue of $30.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $28.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.64 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Valero Energy will post 7.92 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.60, for a total value of $95,440.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Valero Energy

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VLO. Woodline Partners LP raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 40.7% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 26,747 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $3,532,000 after purchasing an additional 7,735 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 13.0% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,929 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $259,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL bought a new position in Valero Energy in the second quarter worth about $528,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 11.3% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 269,043 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $36,165,000 after purchasing an additional 27,291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 0.9% in the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 145,810 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $19,600,000 after purchasing an additional 1,338 shares in the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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