Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Jefferies Financial Group Analyst Says

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) had its target price increased by analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $181.00 to $194.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the oil and gas company’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target suggests a potential upside of 22.64% from the company’s previous close.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $151.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $118.00 to $140.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $151.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Valero Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $170.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $169.80.

Valero Energy Stock Down 2.4%

Valero Energy stock opened at $158.19 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Valero Energy has a 12-month low of $99.00 and a 12-month high of $178.43. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $153.45 and its 200 day moving average is $137.94. The company has a market capitalization of $49.14 billion, a PE ratio of 65.91, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.05.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The oil and gas company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.62. Valero Energy had a net margin of 0.62% and a return on equity of 5.76%. The company had revenue of $29.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.71 EPS. Valero Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Valero Energy will post 7.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Valero Energy

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VLO. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 114.1% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 7,437 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $995,000 after acquiring an additional 3,964 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in Valero Energy by 1,995.1% during the first quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 6,432 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $849,000 after buying an additional 6,125 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Valero Energy by 17.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,265 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,356,000 after buying an additional 1,516 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Valero Energy during the first quarter valued at about $214,000. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH grew its position in Valero Energy by 3.9% during the first quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 189,785 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $25,065,000 after buying an additional 7,204 shares during the period. 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.