Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) Upgraded at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on VLO. Mizuho upped their target price on Valero Energy from $166.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Valero Energy from $181.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Barclays upped their target price on Valero Energy from $151.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Valero Energy from $171.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut Valero Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $173.27.

Valero Energy Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE:VLO opened at $157.62 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $155.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $138.88. The stock has a market cap of $48.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.05. 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 quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.62.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The oil and gas company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.62. The business had revenue of $29.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 5.76% and a net margin of 0.62%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.71 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Valero Energy will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Valero Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Valero Energy by 12.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,881,222 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,135,043,000 after acquiring an additional 4,155,522 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,724,707 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,576,035,000 after buying an additional 286,942 shares in the last quarter. 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 16.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,141,511 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,089,897,000 after buying an additional 1,164,217 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Valero Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $827,390,000. 78.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.