Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

VLO has been the topic of a number of other reports. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Valero Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective (down from $198.00) on shares of Valero Energy in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $217.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Scotiabank raised shares of Valero Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $190.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.80.

Valero Energy Stock Down 0.0%

VLO stock opened at $244.02 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $72.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.94, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.62. Valero Energy has a twelve month low of $99.00 and a twelve month high of $258.43. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $215.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $186.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.55. The company had revenue of $30.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $28.20 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 12.35% and a net margin of 1.91%.The business’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.64 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Valero Energy will post 7.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Valero Energy

In other news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 8,311 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.69, for a total value of $1,892,331.59. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 42,242 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,618,080.98. This represents a 16.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Woodline Partners LP grew its position in shares of Valero Energy by 40.7% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 26,747 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,532,000 after purchasing an additional 7,735 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Valero Energy by 13.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,929 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $259,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in Valero Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $464,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Valero Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $52,000. Finally, CW Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Valero Energy by 16.3% in the 2nd quarter. CW Advisors LLC now owns 3,178 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 445 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

About Valero Energy

Valero Energy Corporation is a San Antonio, Texas–based integrated downstream energy company that manufactures and markets transportation fuels, petrochemical feedstocks and other industrial products. The company’s operations focus on refining crude oil into finished fuels such as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, as well as producing asphalt and other refined product streams for commercial and industrial customers.

In addition to refining, Valero has significant operations in renewable fuels, including the production of ethanol and other biofuels, and it manages an extensive logistics network of pipelines, terminals, rail and marine assets to move feedstocks and finished products.