Valero Energy (VLO) Competitors

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) and Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) are both large-cap energy companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, community ranking, media sentiment, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk and valuation.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in MPC or VLO?

Valero Energy received 14 more outperform votes than Marathon Petroleum when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 73.24% of users gave Marathon Petroleum an outperform vote while only 71.31% of users gave Valero Energy an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Marathon Petroleum	Outperform Votes 1040 73.24%	Underperform Votes 380 26.76%
Valero Energy	Outperform Votes 1054 71.31%	Underperform Votes 424 28.69%

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in MPC or VLO?

76.8% of Marathon Petroleum shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.7% of Valero Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of Marathon Petroleum shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.0% of Valero Energy shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media favor MPC or VLO?

In the previous week, Valero Energy had 11 more articles in the media than Marathon Petroleum. MarketBeat recorded 39 mentions for Valero Energy and 28 mentions for Marathon Petroleum. Valero Energy's average media sentiment score of 1.52 beat Marathon Petroleum's score of 1.47 indicating that Valero Energy is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Marathon Petroleum	25 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Valero Energy	29 Very Positive mention(s)	7 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Do analysts rate MPC or VLO?

Marathon Petroleum currently has a consensus price target of $175.29, suggesting a potential upside of 8.56%. Valero Energy has a consensus price target of $151.93, suggesting a potential upside of 14.93%. Given Valero Energy's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Valero Energy is more favorable than Marathon Petroleum.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Marathon Petroleum	1 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.56
Valero Energy	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	13 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.06

Which has better valuation & earnings, MPC or VLO?

Marathon Petroleum has higher revenue and earnings than Valero Energy. Marathon Petroleum is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Valero Energy, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Marathon Petroleum	$137.68B	0.36	$3.45B	$7.11	22.71
Valero Energy	$128.38B	0.32	$2.77B	$2.83	46.71

Is MPC or VLO a better dividend stock?

Marathon Petroleum pays an annual dividend of $3.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Valero Energy pays an annual dividend of $4.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Marathon Petroleum pays out 51.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Valero Energy pays out 159.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Marathon Petroleum has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years and Valero Energy has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years. Valero Energy is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has more volatility and risk, MPC or VLO?

Marathon Petroleum has a beta of 0.87, meaning that its share price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Valero Energy has a beta of 0.98, meaning that its share price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is MPC or VLO more profitable?

Marathon Petroleum has a net margin of 2.45% compared to Valero Energy's net margin of 2.13%. Marathon Petroleum's return on equity of 12.07% beat Valero Energy's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Marathon Petroleum	2.45%	12.07%	3.98%
Valero Energy	2.13%	9.58%	4.37%

Summary

Valero Energy beats Marathon Petroleum on 12 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.