Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) Price Target Raised to $261.00

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) had its price objective boosted by research analysts at Barclays from $184.00 to $261.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the oil and gas company’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 9.95% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective (down from $198.00) on shares of Valero Energy in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Valero Energy from $215.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on Valero Energy from $215.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded Valero Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $222.00.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VLO traded down $14.12 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $237.37. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,143,237 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,886,232. Valero Energy has a 12-month low of $101.66 and a 12-month high of $258.43. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $217.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $188.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.08, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.62. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.55. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 12.35% and a net margin of 1.91%.The firm had revenue of $30.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.64 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Valero Energy will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Valero Energy news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.60, for a total transaction of $95,440.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Valero Energy

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,177,191 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,959,065,000 after acquiring an additional 163,975 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,950,982 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,945,500,000 after acquiring an additional 63,919 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,111,542,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,668,210 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $922,728,000 after acquiring an additional 394,693 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 4,143,672 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $705,502,000 after acquiring an additional 209,597 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

About Valero Energy

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.