Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $269.00 and last traded at $267.1470, with a volume of 151027 shares. The stock had previously closed at $259.37.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on VLO. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $236.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $232.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 4th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $280.00 target price on shares of Valero Energy in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $246.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. One investment 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 issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Valero Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $245.59.

Valero Energy Stock Up 3.4%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $246.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $217.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.45, a PEG ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.55.

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

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st were given a dividend of $1.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.88%.

Insider Transactions at Valero Energy

In other Valero Energy news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.90, for a total value of $1,776,750.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 27,242 shares in the company, valued at $6,453,629.80. The trade was 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 at this hyperlink. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Valero Energy

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,111,542,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new stake in Valero Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $275,239,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Valero Energy by 2,635.7% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 950,527 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $154,736,000 after purchasing an additional 915,782 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its position in Valero Energy by 45.3% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 2,584,976 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $638,695,000 after purchasing an additional 806,018 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Valero Energy by 49.3% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,696,811 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $276,224,000 after purchasing an additional 560,116 shares in the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.