Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $359.89 and last traded at $360.7020, with a volume of 31198 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $352.36.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VLO. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Valero Energy from $292.00 to $356.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $350.00 target price on shares of Valero Energy in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $329.00 price target on shares of Valero Energy in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $288.00.

Valero Energy Trading Up 1.8%

The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $303.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $259.47. The firm has a market cap of $103.33 billion, a PE ratio of 14.90, a PEG ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 0.55.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The oil and gas company reported $12.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.11 by $2.43. The firm had revenue of $44.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.47 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 26.74% and a net margin of 5.17%.The business’s revenue was up 48.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.28 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Valero Energy Corporation will post 40.7 EPS for the current year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st will be issued a $1.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is 19.92%.

Insider Transactions at Valero Energy

In other Valero Energy news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.17, for a total transaction of $2,011,275.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 19,742 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,294,212.14. The trade was a 27.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Valero Energy

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 40,516.1% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 143,816,270 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $37,455,509,000 after acquiring an additional 143,462,183 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,111,542,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,195,943,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $275,239,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 2,635.7% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 950,527 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $154,736,000 after purchasing an additional 915,782 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

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.