Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) Stock Rating Lowered by Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler lowered shares of Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) from an overweight rating to a neutral rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $123.00 price target on the oil and gas company’s stock, down from their prior price target of $169.00.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Valero Energy from $178.00 to $172.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Valero Energy in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an outperform rating and a $177.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com cut Valero Energy from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Valero Energy from $171.00 to $165.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Valero Energy from $149.00 to $131.00 and set a sell rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Valero Energy has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $168.07.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

VLO opened at $135.18 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $145.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $155.11. The company has a market capitalization of $44.20 billion, a PE ratio of 6.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.40. Valero Energy has a 1 year low of $119.88 and a 1 year high of $184.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The oil and gas company reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.60 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $34.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $32.97 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 4.25%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.40 EPS. Research analysts expect that Valero Energy will post 12.3 EPS for the current year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 1st were issued a $1.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $4.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.17%. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is presently 21.20%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Valero Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VLO. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Valero Energy by 37.6% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,558,750 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $266,040,000 after buying an additional 426,093 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its position in shares of Valero Energy by 721.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 337,911 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $43,927,000 after buying an additional 296,771 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Valero Energy by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,319,436 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $677,007,000 after buying an additional 237,347 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Valero Energy by 17.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,550,010 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $238,841,000 after buying an additional 232,494 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Valero Energy in the 1st quarter valued at about $39,517,000. Institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

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.