This story originally appeared on Zacks

Valero Energy (VLO) closed at $78.20 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.39% move from the prior day. This change was narrower than the S&P 500’s daily loss of 1.94%. At the same time, the Dow lost 1.07%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.39%.

Heading into today, shares of the oil refiner had gained 9.6% over the past month, outpacing the Oils-Energy sector’s gain of 5.65% and the S&P 500’s gain of 5.72% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from Valero Energy as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be January 27, 2022. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.41, up 233.02% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $28.78 billion, up 73.34% from the prior-year quarter.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Valero Energy should also be noted by investors. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company’s business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. 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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 4.77% lower within the past month. Valero Energy is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Digging into valuation, Valero Energy currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 12.64. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry’s average Forward P/E of 16.01.

We can also see that VLO currently has a PEG ratio of 2.11. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company’s expected earnings growth rate. Oil and Gas – Refining and Marketing stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 0.61 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 63, which puts it in the top 25% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. 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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Valero Energy Corporation (VLO): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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