Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) Hits New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $197.94 and last traded at $195.0260, with a volume of 346263 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $192.27.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VLO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Valero Energy in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research lowered shares of Valero Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $195.00 price target (up previously from $181.00) on shares of Valero Energy in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $197.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $183.53.

Valero Energy Trading Up 1.3%

The firm has a market capitalization of $59.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $175.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $164.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.55. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 1.91%.The firm had revenue of $30.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.64 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Valero Energy Corporation will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 5th will be paid a dividend of $1.20 per share. This is a boost from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 5th. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is 59.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Valero Energy news, CFO Jason W. Fraser sold 9,933 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.02, for a total transaction of $1,728,540.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 134,196 shares in the company, valued at $23,352,787.92. This represents a 6.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VLO. Pure Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Valero Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $288,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd lifted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 18.3% during the fourth quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 4,368 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $715,000 after buying an additional 676 shares during the last quarter. Midwest Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Midwest Trust Co now owns 4,106 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $668,000 after buying an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Valero Energy by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC now owns 2,331 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $379,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EWA LLC raised its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. EWA LLC now owns 1,474 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $240,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.