Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) Reaches New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after TD Cowen raised their price target on the stock from $276.00 to $292.00. TD Cowen currently has a hold rating on the stock. Valero Energy traded as high as $269.00 and last traded at $267.1470, with a volume of 151027 shares. The stock had previously closed at $259.37.

VLO has been the topic of a number of other research reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $222.00 to $289.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $203.00 price target on shares of Valero Energy in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Valero Energy from $236.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Valero Energy from $232.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Valero Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $246.53.

Insider Buying and Selling at Valero Energy

In related news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 19,742 shares in the company, valued at $5,294,212.14. This represents a 27.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VLO. Woodline Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 40.7% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its position 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 in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL bought a new position in Valero Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $528,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in Valero Energy by 11.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 269,043 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $36,165,000 after purchasing an additional 27,291 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its position in Valero Energy by 0.9% in the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 145,810 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $19,600,000 after buying an additional 1,338 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy Trading Down 2.1%

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $247.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $218.91. The stock has a market cap of $77.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.94, a PEG ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $4.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.16 by $1.06. Valero Energy had a net margin of 3.37% and a return on equity of 15.94%. The company had revenue of $32.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.89 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Valero Energy Corporation will post 27.45 EPS for the current year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st were given a dividend of $1.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is currently 34.88%.

Valero Energy Company Profile

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.