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

Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, October 29th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given 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 yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th.

Valero Energy has raised its dividend payment by an average of 1.3% per year over the last three years. Valero Energy has a payout ratio of 43.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities 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 Stock Up 0.1 %

Valero Energy stock opened at $140.16 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $135.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $146.35. Valero Energy has a fifty-two week low of $120.21 and a fifty-two week high of $184.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.57, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The oil and gas company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.16. Valero Energy had a net margin of 2.74% and a return on equity of 13.07%. The business had revenue of $32.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $7.49 EPS. Valero Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Valero Energy will post 9.1 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on VLO. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Valero Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $172.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Valero Energy in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 target price on the stock. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $173.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $149.00 to $131.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $146.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company 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.