Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Valero Energy Corporation has received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from eighteen analysts, with ten recommending a buy and two recommending a strong buy.
• The company's average one-year target price is $169.80, reflecting a positive outlook despite recent downgrades from some analysts.
• Valero Energy reported earnings of $2.28 EPS for its last quarter, exceeding estimates and generating revenue of $29.89 billion, although this was down 13.3% compared to the previous year.

Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO - Get Free Report) has been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the eighteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have assigned a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $169.80.

VLO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Valero Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Valero Energy from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and raised their price target for the company from $160.00 to $175.00 in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Valero Energy from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $181.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $170.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Valero Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Private Trust Co. NA raised its position in shares of Valero Energy by 2.0% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 3,381 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $576,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Valero Energy by 70.2% in the third quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 160 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Broadway Wealth Solutions Inc. lifted its position in Valero Energy by 3.8% in the second quarter. Broadway Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 1,864 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $251,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Financial Advisors Network Inc. lifted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 1.6% during the second quarter. Financial Advisors Network Inc. now owns 4,774 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $642,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Park Place Capital Corp lifted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 21.8% during the second quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 419 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.69% of the company's stock.

Valero Energy Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE:VLO opened at $161.13 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a fifty day moving average of $155.02 and a 200 day moving average of $138.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 67.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.05. Valero Energy has a 52 week low of $99.00 and a 52 week high of $178.43.

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

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.

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