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Valero Energy (VLO) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: What You Should Know

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Valero Energy (VLO - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $133.13, moving -0.44% from the previous trading session. This change lagged the S&P 500's 1.33% gain on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 1.14%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 2.94%.

Heading into today, shares of the oil refiner had gained 7.55% over the past month, outpacing the Oils-Energy sector's gain of 3.53% and the S&P 500's gain of 6.11% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from Valero Energy as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be April 27, 2023. In that report, analysts expect Valero Energy to post earnings of $7.05 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 205.19%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $30.95 billion, down 19.69% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $24.95 per share and revenue of $147.57 billion, which would represent changes of -14.44% and -16.34%, respectively, from the prior year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Valero Energy. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 2.37% higher. Valero Energy is currently a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Digging into valuation, Valero Energy currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 5.36. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 6.64, which means Valero Energy is trading at a discount to the group.

Also, we should mention that VLO has a PEG ratio of 0.89. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. Oil and Gas - Refining and Marketing stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 0.89 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Oil and Gas - Refining and Marketing industry is part of the Oils-Energy sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 35, which puts it in the top 14% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.


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