Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) Price Target Raised to $350.00 at TD Cowen

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) had its price target upped by equities research analysts at TD Cowen from $338.00 to $350.00 in a report released on Monday. The brokerage currently has a “hold” rating on the oil and gas company’s stock. TD Cowen’s target price suggests a potential upside of 11.86% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Valero Energy from $292.00 to $356.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Valero Energy from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Valero Energy from $178.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $286.00 to $357.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $232.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $287.35.

Valero Energy Price Performance

NYSE VLO opened at $312.89 on Monday. Valero Energy has a 12 month low of $130.78 and a 12 month high of $320.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.91 billion, a PE ratio of 12.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 0.55. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $270.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $239.10.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The oil and gas company reported $12.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.11 by $2.43. The firm had revenue of $44.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.47 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 26.74% and a net margin of 5.17%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 48.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.28 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Valero Energy will post 36.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.17, for a total transaction of $2,011,275.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 19,742 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,294,212.14. This represents a 27.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Valero Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VLO. Woodline Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 40.7% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 26,747 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,532,000 after buying an additional 7,735 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 13.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,929 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $259,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL purchased a new position in Valero Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $528,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in Valero Energy by 11.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 269,043 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $36,165,000 after purchasing an additional 27,291 shares during the period. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 0.9% in the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 145,810 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $19,600,000 after purchasing an additional 1,338 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.