Valero Energy’s (VLO) “Sell” Rating Reaffirmed at Freedom Broker

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO)‘s stock had its “sell” rating reaffirmed by research analysts at Freedom Broker in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $276.00 price target on the oil and gas company’s stock. Freedom Broker‘s price objective points to a potential downside of 34.16% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts have also commented on VLO. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $485.00 to $489.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Bank of America raised their price objective on Valero Energy from $395.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Zacks Research raised shares of Valero Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $255.00 to $411.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Valero Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $379.94.

Valero Energy Price Performance

Shares of Valero Energy stock traded down $7.09 during trading on Friday, reaching $419.19. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,399,763 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,295,574. The company has a market capitalization of $120.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 0.59. Valero Energy has a 12-month low of $159.90 and a 12-month high of $461.52. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $391.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $309.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The oil and gas company reported $23.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $21.17 by $2.73. Valero Energy had a net margin of 5.17% and a return on equity of 26.74%. The business had revenue of $46.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $42.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.66 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 43.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Valero Energy will post 52.55 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Valero Energy

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VLO. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Valero Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,195,943,000. Amundi boosted its stake in Valero Energy by 45.3% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 2,584,976 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $638,695,000 after buying an additional 806,018 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 33.9% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,058,341 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $536,074,000 after purchasing an additional 520,642 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP acquired a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $59,917,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in Valero Energy by 18.4% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,842,339 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $702,285,000 after purchasing an additional 442,177 shares in the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More Valero Energy News

Here are the key news stories impacting Valero Energy this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Record earnings significantly exceeded expectations. Valero reported third-quarter adjusted EPS of $23.90, above the approximately $21.17 consensus, while revenue rose 43.3% year over year to $46.10 billion. Net income climbed to roughly $6.8 billion from $1.1 billion a year earlier. Valero Energy Reports Third Quarter 2026 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Refining economics remain highly favorable. Refining margins nearly tripled year over year as fuel inventories stayed tight, supporting stronger profits even with lower throughput. Management also indicated that fuel margins could rise again, while renewable diesel and ethanol operations improved and ethanol production reached a record. Valero Q3 Earnings Surge Sixfold to $6.8 Billion on Refining Boom
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts raised several price targets. Barclays increased its target to $443 and Wells Fargo raised its target to $489, with both maintaining overweight ratings. Citi also lifted its target to $490, although it retained a neutral rating. Analyst price-target updates
• Neutral Sentiment: Strong cash generation improves financial flexibility. The earnings call highlighted approximately $9.8 billion in cash and disciplined capital spending, which support dividends and balance-sheet resilience. However, comparisons with Phillips 66 show that crude sourcing, diversification and valuation remain important differentiators among refiners. Valero Q3 Earnings Call Highlights Refining and Cash Strength
• Negative Sentiment: One analyst remains cautious on valuation and margin sustainability. TD Cowen raised its target to $400 but kept a hold rating, placing its target below the recent trading level. Lower throughput and the potential for government efforts to reduce fuel prices also underscore the risk that unusually strong refining margins may normalize. Valero Energy Q3 Results Show Record Ethanol Production, Strong Profits

Valero Energy Company Profile

Valero Energy Corporation is an international energy company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. The company’s primary business is refining and marketing transportation fuels, including gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and other products used by commercial, industrial and consumer customers.

Valero operates refineries in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Its refining operations also produce asphalt, petrochemical feedstocks and other petroleum-based products. The company markets fuel through wholesale channels and branded retail networks, including Valero, Beacon and Shamrock-branded locations.

In addition to conventional refining, Valero has businesses focused on renewable fuels.