Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) Receives $163.80 Average Price Target from Analysts

Key Points

• Valero Energy Corporation has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with four hold ratings, eleven buy ratings, and two strong buy ratings.
• Analysts have set an average 1-year price target of $163.80, with some firms adjusting their forecasts upwards, including Wells Fargo and Piper Sandler.
• Valero recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.13 per share, which translates to an annual yield of 2.8% and has a high payout ratio of 188.33%.

Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the seventeen analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eleven have given a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $163.80.

Several research firms recently commented on VLO. Wolfe Research cut Valero Energy from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. TD Cowen cut shares of Valero Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their price target for the company from $118.00 to $140.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $170.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $151.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th.

Valero Energy Trading Down 0.8%

NYSE:VLO traded down $1.30 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $162.55. 8,119,393 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,796,160. Valero Energy has a 12-month low of $99.00 and a 12-month high of $165.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm's fifty day moving average is $146.45 and its 200-day moving average is $134.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 67.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.10.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The oil and gas company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.62. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 5.76% and a net margin of 0.62%.The firm had revenue of $29.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.71 earnings per share. Valero Energy's revenue for the quarter was down 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Valero Energy will post 7.92 EPS for the current year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a $1.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Valero Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 188.33%.

Institutional Trading of Valero Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 18.5% during the first quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 22,402 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $2,959,000 after purchasing an additional 3,503 shares during the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp grew its position in shares of Valero Energy by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 46,474 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $6,138,000 after acquiring an additional 3,790 shares in the last quarter. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund acquired a new position in Valero Energy during the 1st quarter worth $766,000. Sendero Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Valero Energy by 11.0% during the first quarter. Sendero Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,198 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $2,668,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Finally, FORA Capital LLC purchased a new position in Valero Energy in the first quarter valued at about $866,000. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Valero Energy

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.