Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) Receives $155.86 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fifteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation, ten have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $155.86.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VLO. Wells Fargo & Company raised Valero Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $172.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Valero Energy from $173.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $192.00 to $176.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $172.00 to $151.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $146.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Valero Energy

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VLO. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Valero Energy by 3.4% in the second quarter. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,970 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $309,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. OmniStar Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. OmniStar Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,543 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $712,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Everhart Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Valero Energy by 5.5% during the second quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,366 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC grew its holdings in Valero Energy by 1.4% during the second quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 5,068 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $794,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Finally, Magnus Financial Group LLC increased its position in Valero Energy by 4.3% in the second quarter. Magnus Financial Group LLC now owns 1,752 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $275,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Valero Energy stock opened at $139.02 on Monday. Valero Energy has a 12 month low of $120.21 and a 12 month high of $184.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $136.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $145.35.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The oil and gas company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.16. Valero Energy had a net margin of 2.74% and a return on equity of 13.07%. The company had revenue of $32.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.04 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $7.49 EPS. Valero Energy’s revenue was down 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Valero Energy will post 8.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $1.07 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $4.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.39%.

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.