Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) Rating Lowered to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) was downgraded by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a $175.00 price target on the oil and gas company’s stock, up from their previous price target of $160.00. Morgan Stanley’s target price points to a potential upside of 9.13% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $166.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $135.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $151.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Valero Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $152.00 to $179.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $170.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Valero Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $166.07.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:VLO opened at $160.37 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $151.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $136.94. Valero Energy has a 1-year low of $99.00 and a 1-year high of $178.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market cap of $49.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.05.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The oil and gas company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.62. The firm had revenue of $29.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 0.62% and a return on equity of 5.76%. Valero Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.71 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Valero Energy will post 7.92 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VLO. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 276.9% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,795,436 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,425,754,000 after buying an additional 7,931,018 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Valero Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $827,390,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Valero Energy by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,881,222 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $5,135,043,000 after purchasing an additional 4,155,522 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Valero Energy in the 1st quarter valued at about $529,864,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Valero Energy by 34.1% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,905,145 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $647,823,000 after purchasing an additional 1,247,196 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

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.