Wells Fargo & Company Initiates Coverage on Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO)

Investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) in a research note issued on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm set an “overweight” rating and a $216.00 price target on the oil and gas company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective suggests a potential upside of 37.04% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on VLO. Barclays upped their price target on Valero Energy from $151.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Valero Energy from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Valero Energy from $135.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Valero Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Valero Energy from $165.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Three investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $173.27.

Valero Energy Trading Up 0.8%

VLO stock opened at $157.62 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $48.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.68, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $155.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $138.88.

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

Institutional Trading of Valero Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 valued at $5,135,043,000 after buying an additional 4,155,522 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in 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 valued at $1,576,035,000 after buying an additional 286,942 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in 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 valued at $1,425,754,000 after buying an additional 7,931,018 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in 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 valued at $1,089,897,000 after buying an additional 1,164,217 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Valero Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $827,390,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.