TD Cowen Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) Stock

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) had its target price raised by equities research analysts at TD Cowen from $276.00 to $292.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “hold” rating on the oil and gas company’s stock. TD Cowen’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 7.74% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Barclays raised their target price on Valero Energy from $184.00 to $261.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $280.00 price target on shares of Valero Energy in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Valero Energy from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $215.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $203.00 price objective on shares of Valero Energy in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $246.53.

Valero Energy Price Performance

Valero Energy stock traded up $11.64 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $271.01. 1,340,902 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,550,877. Valero Energy has a 1-year low of $130.78 and a 1-year high of $272.17. The firm has a market cap of $80.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.55. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $246.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $217.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $4.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.16 by $1.06. Valero Energy had a net margin of 3.37% and a return on equity of 15.94%. The business had revenue of $32.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.38 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.89 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Valero Energy will post 27.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Valero Energy news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.90, for a total transaction of $1,776,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 27,242 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,453,629.80. This represents a 21.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 3,400.0% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 105 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Valero Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in Valero Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Valero Energy by 134.0% during the 1st quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 117 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Finally, Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Valero Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. 78.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.