Valero Energy Corporation (VLO) to Distribute Quarterly Dividend of $1.20 on December 21st

Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, October 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 24th will be given a dividend of $1.20 per share by the oil and gas company on Monday, December 21st. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 24th.

Valero Energy has a payout ratio of 48.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Valero Energy to earn $53.01 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 9.1%.

Valero Energy Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of VLO stock opened at $388.39 on Thursday. Valero Energy has a 1-year low of $159.90 and a 1-year high of $461.52. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $395.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $282.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The company has a market cap of $111.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 0.59.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The oil and gas company reported $23.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $21.17 by $2.73. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 47.50% and a net margin of 8.44%. The company had revenue of $46.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.66 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 43.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Valero Energy will post 56.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on VLO shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $441.00 to $443.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on Valero Energy from $350.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Weiss Ratings raised Valero Energy from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Valero Energy from $485.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Valero Energy from $365.00 to $457.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $379.94.

Valero Energy Company Profile

Valero Energy Corporation is an international energy company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. The company’s primary business is refining and marketing transportation fuels, including gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and other products used by commercial, industrial and consumer customers.

Valero operates refineries in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Its refining operations also produce asphalt, petrochemical feedstocks and other petroleum-based products. The company markets fuel through wholesale channels and branded retail networks, including Valero, Beacon and Shamrock-branded locations.

In addition to conventional refining, Valero has businesses focused on renewable fuels.