Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation, ten have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $174.40.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on VLO shares. Scotiabank raised their price target on Valero Energy from $138.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Bank of America upgraded Valero Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $156.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Citigroup raised their price target on Valero Energy from $160.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Valero Energy from $171.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price objective on Valero Energy from $154.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its position in Valero Energy by 15.2% in the 1st quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 44,243 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $7,552,000 after buying an additional 5,839 shares during the last quarter. Barings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 38.7% during the first quarter. Barings LLC now owns 65,833 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $11,237,000 after buying an additional 18,382 shares during the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 7.1% during the first quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 35,310 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $6,027,000 after purchasing an additional 2,350 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 3.9% during the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 8,287 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,415,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Great Diamond Partners LLC bought a new stake in Valero Energy during the first quarter worth approximately $213,000. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Valero Energy Trading Up 0.3 %

Valero Energy stock opened at $157.07 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $163.69 and a 200 day moving average of $142.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.55. Valero Energy has a 12-month low of $105.49 and a 12-month high of $184.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.18 by $0.64. The business had revenue of $31.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $32.02 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 24.82% and a net margin of 5.01%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $8.27 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Valero Energy will post 18.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Company Profile

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.