Raymond James Financial Raises Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) Price Target to $290.00

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) had its price target increased by equities researchers at Raymond James Financial from $215.00 to $290.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “strong-buy” rating on the oil and gas company’s stock. Raymond James Financial’s target price suggests a potential upside of 17.04% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on VLO. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Valero Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $195.00 price target (down from $198.00) on shares of Valero Energy in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Valero Energy from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Valero Energy in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Valero Energy from $197.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Valero Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.53.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Shares of VLO stock opened at $247.78 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $207.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $183.00. Valero Energy has a one year low of $99.00 and a one year high of $249.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.09 billion, a PE ratio of 32.43, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.55. The business had revenue of $30.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.20 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 12.35%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Valero Energy will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Valero Energy news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 400 shares of Valero Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.60, for a total value of $95,440.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Valero Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Valero Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Valero Energy by 70.2% during the 3rd quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 160 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in Valero Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. AXS Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Valero Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates acquired a new stake in Valero Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Valero Energy

Here are the key news stories impacting Valero Energy this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Raymond James raised its price target on VLO to $290 and kept a “Strong Buy” rating, a high-profile upgrade that boosts investor expectations for upside. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Scotiabank reaffirmed a Buy rating on Valero, providing additional sell-side support and validation for the recent bullish analyst trend. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Macro/sector tailwinds: energy stocks are rallying as oil prices climbed above $100/bbl amid heightened Middle East tensions, benefiting refiners like Valero through wider crack spreads and stronger refining margins. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Research update: Erste Group raised its FY2027 EPS estimate for Valero, signaling expectations for stronger future earnings versus prior forecasts. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks/Yahoo pieces note VLO is a “trending” stock and summarize factors investors should watch (analyst views, macro, refinery outages), useful background but not new catalytic news. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Valero has begun preparations to restart its 380,000 bpd Port Arthur refinery after the shutdown, which limits prolonged supply disruption risk if the restart proceeds smoothly. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Operational incident: filings show a fluid release ignited the explosion and fire at the Port Arthur refinery, highlighting safety and operational risk that could mean repair costs, lost throughput and temporary margin pressure. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Litigation: a worker injured in the Port Arthur blast filed a lawsuit seeking >$1M, creating potential legal/PR headwinds (currently limited in scale but worth monitoring). Article Title

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.