Wolfe Research Initiates Coverage on Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO)

Stock analysts at Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) in a research report issued on Thursday, StockNewsAPI reports. The brokerage set an “outperform” rating and a $177.00 price target on the oil and gas company’s stock. Wolfe Research’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 17.95% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on VLO. TD Cowen cut their target price on Valero Energy from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. StockNews.com downgraded Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Valero Energy from $179.00 to $156.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Valero Energy from $187.00 to $169.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Valero Energy from $160.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.75.

Valero Energy Stock Up 0.8 %

VLO opened at $150.06 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $154.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $152.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a market cap of $49.07 billion, a PE ratio of 7.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.42. Valero Energy has a 52 week low of $113.70 and a 52 week high of $184.79.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.18 by $0.64. The business had revenue of $31.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $32.02 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 24.82% and a net margin of 5.01%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $8.27 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Valero Energy will post 14.96 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Valero Energy

In other Valero Energy news, Director Kimberly S. Greene sold 720 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.12, for a total transaction of $113,846.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 13,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,105,209.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Valero Energy

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VLO. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the fourth quarter worth $570,428,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 12,883.3% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,047,360 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $136,157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,039,293 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 37.6% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,558,750 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $266,040,000 after purchasing an additional 426,093 shares during the last quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 2,389,654 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $310,655,000 after purchasing an additional 376,449 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,788,994 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $362,569,000 after purchasing an additional 342,218 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.