Piper Sandler Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) Stock Price

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) had its price target reduced by Piper Sandler from $144.00 to $140.00 in a research note published on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the oil and gas company’s stock.

VLO has been the topic of several other research reports. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Valero Energy from $156.00 to $136.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Valero Energy from $152.00 to $147.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Tudor Pickering upgraded Valero Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $121.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Valero Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $149.53.

Valero Energy Stock Up 1.0%

VLO stock opened at $122.97 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $120.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $128.42. The company has a market capitalization of $38.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.50, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.98. Valero Energy has a twelve month low of $99.00 and a twelve month high of $167.78.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The oil and gas company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.16 by ($0.27). The company had revenue of $28.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.54 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 2.13%. Valero Energy’s revenue was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.82 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Valero Energy will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of $1.13 per share. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 20th. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is 159.72%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Valero Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $669,400,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Valero Energy by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,725,700 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,257,024,000 after acquiring an additional 4,805,133 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Valero Energy by 15,395.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,355,699 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $179,047,000 after acquiring an additional 1,346,950 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the fourth quarter worth $132,469,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the fourth quarter worth $98,376,000. Institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy Company Profile

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.