FY2027 EPS Estimates for Valero Energy Increased by Analyst

Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) – Investment analysts at Erste Group Bank boosted their FY2027 earnings estimates for shares of Valero Energy in a report released on Tuesday, March 24th. Erste Group Bank analyst H. Engel now expects that the oil and gas company will post earnings of $13.27 per share for the year, up from their previous forecast of $12.59. The consensus estimate for Valero Energy’s current full-year earnings is $7.92 per share.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its earnings results 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. Valero Energy had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 12.35%. The firm had revenue of $30.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.64 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Research downgraded Valero Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Valero Energy from $190.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $203.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $215.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $197.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.53.

Valero Energy Trading Up 5.6%

Shares of NYSE:VLO opened at $247.78 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $207.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $183.00. Valero Energy has a 1 year low of $99.00 and a 1 year high of $249.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The company has a market capitalization of $74.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.70.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Valero Energy

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Valero Energy by 17.4% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 160,794 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $27,377,000 after purchasing an additional 23,859 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 15.7% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 161,957 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $21,770,000 after purchasing an additional 21,997 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,534,000. Tema Etfs LLC bought a new stake in shares of Valero Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,669,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 104,859 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $17,853,000 after purchasing an additional 8,638 shares during the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 8,311 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.69, for a total value of $1,892,331.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 5th were issued a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. This is an increase from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 5th. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.83%.

More Valero Energy News

Here are the key news stories impacting Valero Energy this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Raymond James raised its price target on VLO to $290 and kept a “Strong Buy” rating, a high-profile upgrade that boosts investor expectations for upside. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Scotiabank reaffirmed a Buy rating on Valero, providing additional sell-side support and validation for the recent bullish analyst trend. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Macro/sector tailwinds: energy stocks are rallying as oil prices climbed above $100/bbl amid heightened Middle East tensions, benefiting refiners like Valero through wider crack spreads and stronger refining margins. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Research update: Erste Group raised its FY2027 EPS estimate for Valero, signaling expectations for stronger future earnings versus prior forecasts. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks/Yahoo pieces note VLO is a “trending” stock and summarize factors investors should watch (analyst views, macro, refinery outages), useful background but not new catalytic news. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Valero has begun preparations to restart its 380,000 bpd Port Arthur refinery after the shutdown, which limits prolonged supply disruption risk if the restart proceeds smoothly. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Operational incident: filings show a fluid release ignited the explosion and fire at the Port Arthur refinery, highlighting safety and operational risk that could mean repair costs, lost throughput and temporary margin pressure. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Litigation: a worker injured in the Port Arthur blast filed a lawsuit seeking >$1M, creating potential legal/PR headwinds (currently limited in scale but worth monitoring). Article Title

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.