Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $1.07

Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, October 29th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of 1.07 per share by the oil and gas company on Friday, December 20th. This represents a $4.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th.

Valero Energy has increased its dividend payment by an average of 1.3% per year over the last three years. Valero Energy has a dividend payout ratio of 43.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Valero Energy to earn $10.05 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.28 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 42.6%.

Valero Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VLO opened at $144.01 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $45.59 billion, a PE ratio of 12.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.39. Valero Energy has a fifty-two week low of $120.21 and a fifty-two week high of $184.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.57. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $136.03 and a 200-day moving average of $146.26.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The oil and gas company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.16. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 13.07% and a net margin of 2.74%. The business had revenue of $32.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $7.49 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Valero Energy will post 9.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on VLO. Piper Sandler cut Valero Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $169.00 to $123.00 in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Barclays reduced their target price on Valero Energy from $146.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Scotiabank reduced their target price 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. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Valero Energy from $149.00 to $131.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price target on Valero Energy from $175.00 to $171.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $155.86.

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.