Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) Rating Lowered to Hold at Zacks Research

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) was downgraded by Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Valero Energy from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 4th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $215.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $232.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on Valero Energy from $222.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $245.59.

Valero Energy Price Performance

VLO stock opened at $244.44 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $245.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $216.02. Valero Energy has a 1 year low of $130.78 and a 1 year high of $265.61. The stock has a market cap of $72.58 billion, a PE ratio of 17.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $4.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.16 by $1.06. The company had revenue of $32.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.38 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 15.94% and a net margin of 3.37%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.89 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Valero Energy will post 27.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Valero Energy

In other news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.90, for a total transaction of $1,776,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 27,242 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,453,629.80. This trade represents a 21.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Valero Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,111,542,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the third quarter worth approximately $275,239,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 2,635.7% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 950,527 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $154,736,000 after acquiring an additional 915,782 shares during the period. Amundi grew its position in shares of Valero Energy by 45.3% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 2,584,976 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $638,695,000 after purchasing an additional 806,018 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 49.3% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,696,811 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $276,224,000 after purchasing an additional 560,116 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

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.