Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) Price Target Lowered to $159.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) had its price target reduced by Wells Fargo & Company from $160.00 to $159.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the oil and gas company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price would suggest a potential upside of 18.66% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Valero Energy from $173.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Valero Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $145.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $146.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Valero Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $154.46.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

VLO stock traded down $1.42 during trading on Friday, hitting $134.00. 360,038 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,915,847. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $130.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $137.71. Valero Energy has a 1 year low of $116.84 and a 1 year high of $184.79. The company has a market cap of $42.42 billion, a PE ratio of 12.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.42.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.50. Valero Energy had a net margin of 2.74% and a return on equity of 13.07%. On average, equities analysts expect that Valero Energy will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Valero Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VLO. Quad Cities Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in Valero Energy by 1.6% during the third quarter. Quad Cities Investment Group LLC now owns 4,851 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $655,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Valero Energy by 0.9% during the third quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,784 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,169,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. New Century Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 5.0% during the third quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 1,708 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $231,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,947 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $606,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Valero Energy by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,834 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $248,000 after buying an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

About Valero Energy

Valero Energy Corporation manufactures, markets, and sells petroleum-based and low-carbon liquid transportation fuels and petrochemical products in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latin America, Mexico, Peru, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Refining, Renewable Diesel, and Ethanol.