Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) Price Target Raised to $276.00 at TD Cowen

Key Points

• TD Cowen raised its price target on Valero from $255 to $276 while keeping a "hold" rating, implying about an 11.7% upside from the prior close.
• Valero beat expectations for the quarter with $4.22 EPS (vs. $3.16 expected) and $32.38 billion in revenue, and analysts forecast roughly 23.1 EPS for the year.
• MarketBeat's consensus is a Moderate Buy with an average target of $237.94; several brokers have recently raised targets and the analyst mix is skewed toward buy ratings (2 Strong Buy, 10 Buy, 8 Hold, 1 Sell).

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO - Get Free Report) had its price target upped by TD Cowen from $255.00 to $276.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday. The firm presently has a "hold" rating on the oil and gas company's stock. TD Cowen's target price would indicate a potential upside of 11.71% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on VLO. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $236.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $246.00 to $259.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday. Zacks Research raised shares of Valero Energy from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Scotiabank boosted their target price 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. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $184.00 to $261.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $237.94.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VLO traded up $0.19 on Monday, hitting $247.06. The company had a trading volume of 119,784 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,681,163. Valero Energy has a 1-year low of $115.65 and a 1-year high of $258.43. The stock has a market cap of $73.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $232.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $196.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $4.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.16 by $1.06. The firm had revenue of $32.38 billion for 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 15.96%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.89 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Valero Energy will post 23.1 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.60, for a total transaction of $95,440.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Valero Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 17.4% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 160,794 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $27,377,000 after acquiring an additional 23,859 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $4,534,000. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 9.0% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 104,859 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $17,853,000 after buying an additional 8,638 shares during the period. Tema Etfs LLC acquired a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,669,000. Finally, National Pension Service increased its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 3.6% in 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 buying an additional 17,165 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.69% of the company's stock.

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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