Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Valero Energy has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating from 21 analysts, with an average 12-month price target of about $245.59. Recent analyst updates included higher price targets from Scotiabank, Wells Fargo, TD Cowen, and Goldman Sachs.
• The company reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $4.22 versus expectations of $3.16 and revenue of $32.38 billion, both ahead of forecasts. Revenue also rose 7% year over year.
• Valero declared a quarterly dividend of $1.20 per share, equal to a $4.80 annualized payout and a 2.0% yield. Insider selling was limited, while institutional ownership remained high at 78.69%.

Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-one analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $245.5882.

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $178.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $220.00 to $292.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $255.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $203.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Valero Energy from a "hold (c)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 7,500 shares of Valero Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.90, for a total transaction of $1,776,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 27,242 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,453,629.80. The trade was a 21.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Valero Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,111,542,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in Valero Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $275,239,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Valero Energy by 2,635.7% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 950,527 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $154,736,000 after purchasing an additional 915,782 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its stake in Valero Energy by 45.3% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 2,584,976 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $638,695,000 after purchasing an additional 806,018 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Valero Energy by 49.3% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,696,811 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $276,224,000 after purchasing an additional 560,116 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company's stock.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:VLO opened at $243.30 on Tuesday. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $245.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $215.55. Valero Energy has a 1-year low of $130.78 and a 1-year high of $265.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market cap of $72.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 0.55.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $4.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.16 by $1.06. Valero Energy had a net margin of 3.37% and a return on equity of 15.94%. The firm had revenue of $32.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.38 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS. Valero Energy's quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Valero Energy will post 27.45 EPS for the current year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. 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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