Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO – Get Rating) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,440,000 shares, a growth of 18.0% from the May 31st total of 8,000,000 shares. Approximately 2.3% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 5,570,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days.
VLO traded down $4.39 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $103.59. 5,312,870 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,154,271. Valero Energy has a 1 year low of $58.85 and a 1 year high of $146.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.80. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $122.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $100.28.
Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 26th. The oil and gas company reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.70. Valero Energy had a net margin of 1.93% and a return on equity of 13.69%. The company had revenue of $38.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $32.23 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($1.73) EPS. Valero Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 85.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Valero Energy will post 17.18 EPS for the current year.
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 11th. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.33%.
In other Valero Energy news, COO R. Lane Riggs sold 17,767 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.53, for a total value of $2,336,893.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 254,905 shares in the company, valued at $33,527,654.65. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.
Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of VLO. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Valero Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $291,233,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of Valero Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $196,728,000. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 37,549,543 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,820,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,536,457 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 47,955,666 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,869,418,000 after purchasing an additional 1,499,939 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 20.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,642,838 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $776,055,000 after purchasing an additional 1,296,547 shares in the last quarter. 77.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
A number of equities analysts have commented on VLO shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $94.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 26th. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $105.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 8th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 23rd. Credit Suisse Group upped their price objective on shares of Valero Energy to $145.00 in a report on Thursday, June 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Valero Energy in a report on Monday, June 13th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $155.00 price objective on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $128.46.
Valero Energy Company Profile (Get Rating)
Valero Energy Corporation manufactures, markets, and sells transportation fuels and petrochemical products in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Refining, Renewable Diesel, and Ethanol. It produces conventional, premium, and reformulated gasolines; gasoline meeting the specifications of the California Air Resources Board (CARB); diesel fuels, and low-sulfur and ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuels; CARB diesel; other distillates; jet fuels; blendstocks; and asphalts, petrochemicals, lubricants, and other refined petroleum products, as well as sells lube oils and natural gas liquids.