Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) Issues Earnings Results

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The oil and gas company reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.60 by $0.11, RTT News reports. The company had revenue of $34.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $32.97 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 24.82% and a net margin of 5.01%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.40 EPS.

Valero Energy Stock Up 5.8 %

Valero Energy stock traded up $8.58 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $157.40. The company had a trading volume of 2,568,111 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,067,248. Valero Energy has a fifty-two week low of $119.88 and a fifty-two week high of $184.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.42. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $153.77 and its 200-day moving average is $152.76.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 1st will be issued a dividend of $1.07 per share. This represents a $4.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 1st. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on VLO. Argus lowered Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. StockNews.com cut shares of Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Mizuho raised shares of Valero Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $165.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $179.00 to $156.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Valero Energy from $160.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.47.

Insider Buying and Selling at Valero Energy

In other news, Director Kimberly S. Greene sold 720 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.12, for a total value of $113,846.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,105,209.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.04% 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.