Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Valero Energy carries a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” from 21 analysts, with an average 12-month price target of about $243.65.
• The company recently reported strong quarterly results, posting EPS of $4.22 versus estimates of $3.16 and revenue of $32.38 billion, while raising year-over-year revenue by 7%.
• Valero also announced a quarterly dividend of $1.20 per share, equal to an annualized yield of about 2.0%, payable on June 23.

Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" by the twenty-one analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation, eleven have assigned a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $243.6471.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on VLO shares. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $255.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $203.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Valero Energy from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $182.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $184.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Valero Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VLO. National Pension Service raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 3.6% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 491,134 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $83,620,000 after acquiring an additional 17,165 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 5.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 4,143,672 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $705,502,000 after acquiring an additional 209,597 shares during the period. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 33.5% during the fourth quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 42,376 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $6,898,000 after acquiring an additional 10,634 shares during the period. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 13.7% during the third quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 115,183 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $19,612,000 after acquiring an additional 13,923 shares during the period. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $954,000. 78.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:VLO opened at $245.10 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $242.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $206.77. The company has a market cap of $72.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 0.58. Valero Energy has a 52 week low of $125.10 and a 52 week high of $263.75.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $4.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.16 by $1.06. The firm had revenue of $32.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.38 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 3.37% and a return on equity of 15.94%. The company's revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Valero Energy will post 26.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a $1.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Valero Energy's payout ratio is 34.88%.

About Valero Energy

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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