Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) Increases Dividend to $1.13 Per Share

Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 16th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be paid a dividend of 1.13 per share by the oil and gas company on Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. This is a boost from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.07.

Valero Energy has raised its dividend by an average of 3.0% per year over the last three years. Valero Energy has a payout ratio of 38.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Valero Energy to earn $8.20 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 52.2%.

Valero Energy Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of VLO traded up $1.60 during trading on Thursday, reaching $139.51. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,211,925 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,982,106. Valero Energy has a twelve month low of $116.84 and a twelve 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 company has a market cap of $44.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a fifty day moving average of $131.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $138.59.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The oil and gas company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $32.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.04 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 2.74% and a return on equity of 13.07%. The firm’s revenue was down 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $7.49 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Valero Energy will post 7.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America started coverage on Valero Energy in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $192.00 to $176.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $145.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $173.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $146.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $154.57.

Valero Energy Company Profile

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.