Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) Raised to Strong-Buy at Tudor Pickering

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) was upgraded by analysts at Tudor Pickering from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Piper Sandler raised Valero Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Valero Energy from $165.00 to $158.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of 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. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $160.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on Valero Energy from $192.00 to $176.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Valero Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $154.46.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Valero Energy stock opened at $140.54 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $44.49 billion, a PE ratio of 16.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.42. Valero Energy has a 12 month low of $116.84 and a 12 month high of $184.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $130.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $137.31.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.50. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 2.13%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Valero Energy will post 8.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Valero Energy by 4,908.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,850,526 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $384,907,000 after buying an additional 2,793,607 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Valero Energy by 11,318.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,076,349 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $145,339,000 after buying an additional 1,066,923 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its position in Valero Energy by 900.2% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 631,095 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $85,217,000 after buying an additional 568,000 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Valero Energy by 18.8% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,585,166 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $484,105,000 after buying an additional 567,059 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Valero Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $70,352,000. 78.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.