Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) Stock

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) had its price target raised by Morgan Stanley from $255.00 to $411.00 in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the oil and gas company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 7.23% from the company’s current price.

VLO has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group set a $350.00 price target on shares of Valero Energy in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings raised Valero Energy from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Barclays upped their price objective on Valero Energy from $279.00 to $323.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research raised Valero Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Valero Energy from $259.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Two equities research 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 issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.94.

Valero Energy Price Performance

Valero Energy stock traded down $7.12 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $383.30. 2,052,884 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,279,583. The company has a market cap of $110.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.87, a PEG ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $327.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $271.83. 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 has a 12-month low of $155.29 and a 12-month high of $399.76.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The oil and gas company reported $12.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.11 by $2.43. Valero Energy had a net margin of 5.17% and a return on equity of 26.74%. The business had revenue of $44.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.47 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.28 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 48.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Valero Energy will post 41.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Valero Energy news, SVP Eric Fisher sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $5,294,212.14. This represents a 27.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Valero Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VLO. Bouchey Financial Group Ltd. raised its stake in Valero Energy by 4.6% in the second quarter. Bouchey Financial Group Ltd. now owns 1,016 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $265,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Core Capital Management & Research inc. bought a new stake in Valero Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $80,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 9.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 27,186 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $7,080,000 after acquiring an additional 2,299 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 81.1% in the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 46,117 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $12,011,000 after acquiring an additional 20,649 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service raised its position in shares of Valero Energy by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 549,675 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $143,157,000 after acquiring an additional 5,609 shares in the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Valero Energy

Valero Energy Corporation is an international energy company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. Its primary business is refining crude oil into transportation fuels and other products, including gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, asphalt, lubricants and petrochemical feedstocks.

Valero operates refineries and related facilities in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, and markets its products through wholesale and commercial channels in North America and other international markets.