Piper Sandler Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) Stock Price

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO - Get Free Report) had its price target reduced by investment analysts at Piper Sandler from $160.00 to $159.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "overweight" rating on the oil and gas company's stock. Piper Sandler's price target suggests a potential upside of 8.82% from the company's current price.

VLO has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Valero Energy in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. They set an "in-line" rating and a $135.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Valero Energy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $127.00 to $154.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $156.00 to $136.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Valero Energy from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, TD Cowen cut shares of Valero Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $118.00 to $140.00 in a report on Tuesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $153.80.

Valero Energy Price Performance

NYSE:VLO traded down $0.17 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $146.12. 842,620 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,083,911. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Valero Energy has a 1 year low of $99.00 and a 1 year high of $167.78. The company has a market cap of $45.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $136.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $130.18.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The oil and gas company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.16 by ($0.27). Valero Energy had a return on equity of 6.30% and a net margin of 0.72%. The company had revenue of $28.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $28.54 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.82 EPS. Valero Energy's quarterly revenue was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Valero Energy will post 7.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Valero Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 276.9% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,795,436 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $1,425,754,000 after purchasing an additional 7,931,018 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $669,400,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,725,700 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $4,257,024,000 after purchasing an additional 4,805,133 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $529,864,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 15,395.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,355,699 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $179,047,000 after purchasing an additional 1,346,950 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company's stock.

Valero Energy Company Profile

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.