Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) PT Raised to $172.00

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) had its price objective hoisted by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from $165.00 to $172.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the oil and gas company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 23.18% from the stock’s current price.

VLO has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Barclays dropped their price target on Valero Energy from $171.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. StockNews.com cut shares of Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $187.00 to $169.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Mizuho raised shares of Valero Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $165.00 to $175.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on Valero Energy from $165.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.50.

Valero Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VLO opened at $139.63 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $149.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $155.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.66 billion, a PE ratio of 6.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.42. Valero Energy has a fifty-two week low of $119.88 and a fifty-two week high of $184.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.48.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The oil and gas company reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.60 by $0.11. Valero Energy had a net margin of 4.25% and a return on equity of 21.01%. The business had revenue of $34.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $32.97 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.40 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Valero Energy will post 12.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. MGO One Seven LLC grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 198.8% in the 4th quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 16,605 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,159,000 after acquiring an additional 11,047 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board increased its position in shares of Valero Energy by 214.4% in the fourth quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 14,475 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,882,000 after buying an additional 9,871 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Valero Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $15,945,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 62.2% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 13,586 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,766,000 after buying an additional 5,209 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bollard Group LLC grew its stake in Valero Energy by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Bollard Group LLC now owns 58,968 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $7,666,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Valero Energy

Valero Energy Corporation manufactures, markets, and sells petroleum-based and low-carbon liquid transportation fuels and petrochemical products in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latin America, Mexico, Peru, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Refining, Renewable Diesel, and Ethanol.