Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) Price Target Raised to $263.00

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) had its price objective boosted by analysts at Piper Sandler from $236.00 to $263.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the oil and gas company’s stock. Piper Sandler’s target price points to a potential upside of 10.23% from the stock’s previous close.

VLO has been the subject of several other reports. Citigroup raised their price target on Valero Energy from $190.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Valero Energy from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Raymond James Financial raised their price target on Valero Energy from $215.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Zacks Research downgraded Valero Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Valero Energy from $203.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $217.19.

Valero Energy Stock Down 5.1%

Valero Energy stock traded down $12.90 on Wednesday, hitting $238.59. 1,236,811 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,855,043. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market cap of $71.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.62. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $217.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $188.22. Valero Energy has a 1 year low of $101.66 and a 1 year high of $258.43.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.55. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 12.35% and a net margin of 1.91%.The business had revenue of $30.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.64 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Valero Energy will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 400 shares of Valero Energy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.60, for a total value of $95,440.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Valero Energy

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Valero Energy by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,177,191 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,959,065,000 after buying an additional 163,975 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Valero Energy by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,950,982 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,945,500,000 after buying an additional 63,919 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Valero Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $1,111,542,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Valero Energy by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,668,210 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $922,728,000 after buying an additional 394,693 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Valero Energy by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 4,143,672 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $705,502,000 after buying an additional 209,597 shares in the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.