Scotiabank Trims Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) Target Price to $141.00

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) had its price target lowered by Scotiabank from $173.00 to $141.00 in a report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a sector outperform rating on the oil and gas company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Valero Energy from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and dropped their price target for the company from $169.00 to $123.00 in a research report on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $172.00 to $151.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Valero Energy from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $172.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on Valero Energy from $175.00 to $171.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $162.60.

Valero Energy Price Performance

Shares of VLO opened at $142.34 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $141.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $152.70. Valero Energy has a 1-year low of $119.88 and a 1-year high of $184.79. The company has a market cap of $45.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.13, a PEG ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The oil and gas company reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.60 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $34.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $32.97 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 4.25% and a return on equity of 21.01%. Valero Energy’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.40 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Valero Energy will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 1st were given a dividend of $1.07 per share. This represents a $4.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 1st. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is currently 24.46%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Valero Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VLO. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 37.6% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,558,750 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $266,040,000 after buying an additional 426,093 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Valero Energy by 5.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,319,436 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $677,007,000 after purchasing an additional 237,347 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Valero Energy by 17.6% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,550,010 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $238,841,000 after buying an additional 232,494 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Valero Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $39,517,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in Valero Energy by 20.5% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,145,117 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $179,490,000 after buying an additional 194,974 shares during the period. 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.