Raymond James Financial Issues Positive Forecast for Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) Stock Price

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLOGet Free Report) had its price objective boosted by equities researchers at Raymond James Financial from $350.00 to $450.00 in a research note issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “strong-buy” rating on the oil and gas company’s stock. Raymond James Financial’s price target suggests a potential upside of 17.85% from the company’s previous close.

VLO has been the subject of a number of other reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Valero Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Valero Energy from $289.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $350.00 price objective on Valero Energy in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Valero Energy from $329.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $317.41.

Read Our Latest Research Report on Valero Energy

Valero Energy Price Performance

Shares of VLO stock traded down $8.57 during trading on Monday, hitting $381.85. The company had a trading volume of 3,315,072 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,288,547. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $327.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $271.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $109.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.57. Valero Energy has a 52 week low of $155.29 and a 52 week high of $399.76.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLOGet Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The oil and gas company reported $12.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $39.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.28 earnings per share. Valero Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 48.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Valero Energy will post 41.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Valero Energy

In related news, SVP Eric Fisher sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Valero Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VLO. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 40,516.1% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 143,816,270 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $37,455,509,000 after purchasing an additional 143,462,183 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Valero Energy by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,177,191 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,959,065,000 after buying an additional 163,975 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Valero Energy by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,950,982 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,945,500,000 after buying an additional 63,919 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Valero Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,111,542,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,668,210 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $922,728,000 after acquiring an additional 394,693 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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Analyst Recommendations for Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO)

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