Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) Receives $296.18 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $301.7647.

VLO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings raised Valero Energy from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Valero Energy from $259.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $279.00 to $323.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th.

Insider Activity at Valero Energy

In related news, SVP Eric Fisher sold 7,500 shares of Valero Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.17, for a total transaction of $2,011,275.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 19,742 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,294,212.14. This trade represents a 27.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Valero Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 40,516.1% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 143,816,270 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $37,455,509,000 after purchasing an additional 143,462,183 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,177,191 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,959,065,000 after buying an additional 163,975 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Valero Energy by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,950,982 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,945,500,000 after buying an additional 63,919 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Valero Energy during the fourth quarter worth $1,111,542,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Valero Energy by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,668,210 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $922,728,000 after acquiring an additional 394,693 shares during the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Valero Energy stock opened at $385.92 on Friday. Valero Energy has a fifty-two week low of $155.29 and a fifty-two week high of $393.54. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $324.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $270.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.64. The stock has a market cap of $111.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.01, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.57.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The oil and gas company reported $12.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.11 by $2.43. The firm had revenue of $44.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.47 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 5.17% and a return on equity of 26.74%. The business’s revenue was up 48.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.28 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Valero Energy will post 41.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $1.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 31st. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.92%.

Valero Energy Company Profile

Valero Energy Corporation is an international energy company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. Its primary business is refining crude oil into transportation fuels and other products, including gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, asphalt, lubricants and petrochemical feedstocks.

Valero operates refineries and related facilities in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, and markets its products through wholesale and commercial channels in North America and other international markets.