Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $165.31, but opened at $179.69. Valero Energy shares last traded at $182.9790, with a volume of 2,833,760 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VLO has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Valero Energy from $177.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley lowered Valero Energy from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $216.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Valero Energy from $181.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Mizuho reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $192.00 price target (up previously from $190.00) on shares of Valero Energy in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $183.20.

Valero Energy Trading Up 10.0%

The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $171.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $158.04. The firm has a market cap of $55.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.77.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $3.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $32.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.80 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 8.69% and a net margin of 1.21%.Valero Energy’s revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.14 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Valero Energy Corporation will post 7.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th were issued a $1.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.36%.

Insider Activity at Valero Energy

In other Valero Energy news, CFO Jason W. Fraser sold 9,933 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.02, for a total value of $1,728,540.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 134,196 shares in the company, valued at $23,352,787.92. The trade was a 6.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Valero Energy

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 2.5% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,724,707 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,576,035,000 after acquiring an additional 286,942 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Valero Energy by 16.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,141,511 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,089,897,000 after buying an additional 1,164,217 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $827,390,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,273,517 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $897,869,000 after purchasing an additional 249,195 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 4,143,672 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $705,502,000 after buying an additional 209,597 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

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.