Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) Raised to Overweight at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research report released on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $165.00 price target on the oil and gas company’s stock, down from their previous price target of $172.00.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $175.00 to $171.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $165.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a sector outperform rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $165.00 to $146.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Valero Energy from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Valero Energy has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $162.60.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Valero Energy stock opened at $142.34 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. Valero Energy has a twelve month low of $119.88 and a twelve month high of $184.79. The stock has a market cap of $45.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 1.39. The company’s fifty day moving average is $141.01 and its 200 day moving average is $152.90.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released 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. The business had revenue of $34.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $32.97 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 4.25% and a return on equity of 21.01%. Valero Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.40 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Valero Energy will post 9.61 EPS for the current year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 1st were given a $1.07 dividend. This represents a $4.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 1st. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is 24.46%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Valero Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Creative Planning grew its position in Valero Energy by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 84,573 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $11,420,000 after purchasing an additional 3,097 shares in the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. grew its position in Valero Energy by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 6,473 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $874,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares in the last quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Valero Energy by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC now owns 11,807 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,594,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the period. Sapient Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Valero Energy by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 11,314 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,528,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the period. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its position in shares of Valero Energy by 21.7% during the 3rd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 521 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. 78.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.