VLO - Valero Energy Corporation
| Previous Close | 79.70 |
| Open | 79.46 |
| Bid | 78.56 x 800 |
| Ask | 78.59 x 800 |
| Day's Range | 78.29 - 79.46 |
| 52 Week Range | 68.81 - 122.42 |
| Volume | 1,159,540 |
| Avg. Volume | 3,287,292 |
| Market Cap | 32.506B |
| Beta (3Y Monthly) | 1.66 |
| PE Ratio (TTM) | 12.88 |
| EPS (TTM) | 6.09 |
| Earnings Date | Oct 23, 2019 - Oct 28, 2019 |
| Forward Dividend & Yield | 3.60 (4.52%) |
| Ex-Dividend Date | 2019-08-05 |
| 1y Target Est | 102.88 |
- Bloomberg
Oil Companies Persuade States to Make Pipeline Protests a Felony
(Bloomberg) -- After protesters disrupted construction of an oil pipeline in North Dakota by chaining themselves to construction equipment and pitching tents along the route, oil and chemical companies found a way to keep it from happening again.They made it a crime.The companies, including Koch Industries Inc., Marathon Petroleum Corp. and Energy Transfer Partners LP -- whose Dakota Access project in North Dakota was targeted three years ago -- lobbied state legislatures to effectively outlaw demonstrations near pipelines, chemical plants and other infrastructure. Nine states have gone along so far, in some cases classifying the activities as felonies. More are considering measures.The lobbying campaign, documented in state disclosures and other records reviewed by Bloomberg News, has raised concerns about corporate influence muzzling free speech.“Oil refiners, especially Koch Industries and Marathon Petroleum, orchestrated this unholy alliance of oil, gas, chemical, and electric utility companies to crush resistance to polluting industries,” said Connor Gibson, an investigator with Greenpeace who has tracked the efforts.Industry representatives portray their efforts as a necessary counter to the increasingly aggressive tactics of activists, which include videotaping confrontations with police for posting on social media.“There is nothing more important to the fuel and petrochemical industries than the safety of our people, our communities and our facilities -- and willful, disruptive and dangerous interference with critical infrastructure puts that safety at risk,” the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers said in a statement. “Our advocacy is intended to protect public safety and private property, not chill First Amendment rights, which don’t entitle a person to destroy property or create public hazards.”Bills criminalizing trespassing near oil pipelines, gas processing equipment and other designated “critical infrastructure” passed this year in Indiana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee and Texas -- building on similar measures previously enacted in Oklahoma and other states. Supporters are now pushing to create infrastructure protest laws in Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania.Their template is model legislation endorsed by the American Legislative Exchange Council, the conservative group backed by the Charles Koch Institute, which encourages state lawmakers to advance ready-made bills on topics ranging from gun rights to tort reform.The new state laws vary, but generally create a new, more serious category of trespassing when it’s done near energy infrastructure and interferes with construction, carrying felony prison sentences of as much as five years and fines of as much as $10,000. It some cases, it can include activists who have permission from landowners to mount protests in the fields and trees near critical energy infrastructure. Some states have extended penalties to organizations found to have “conspired” in the activity.The state efforts respond to a wave of activism by environmentalists opposed to oil, gas and coal, because burning those fossil fuels creates carbon dioxide emissions that drive climate change. The activists increasingly are focused on fighting the infrastructure needed to transport and process those fossil fuels.The AFPM, and one of its top members, Marathon Petroleum Corp., spearheaded efforts to get ALEC to support the model legislation in 2017, according to two people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named discussing internal strategy.Chemistry CouncilMarathon, AFPM and three other trade groups, including the American Chemistry Council, sent state lawmakers a letter urging support for the approach before they convened at an ALEC summit two years ago. The result -- ALEC’s endorsement of a ready-made, template bill -- was an essential boost to creating the new felony protest crimes nationwide.Louisiana enacted legislation expanding its critical infrastructure law to include pipelines in May 2018 as Energy Transfer Partners was building its Bayou Bridge pipeline across the state and self-dubbed “kayaktivists” were mounting water-based protests against the project. Energy Transfer backed the legislation, according to a report at the time from KATC, a Lafayette, Louisiana television station. The Bayou Bridge pipeline was completed in March -- after protesters were charged with critical infrastructure trespassing crimes in connection with it.Energy Transfer Partners also supported a similar measure in Iowa -- alongside the American Petroleum Institute, Koch Companies Public Sector, Magellan Midstream Partners, NextEra Energy Inc. and Valero Energy Corp., according to a state lobbying database.Critical InfrastructureAnd in Texas, a new critical infrastructure felony -- which goes into effect Sept. 1 -- was backed by a slew of oil, pipeline, power and chemical companies, with representatives of Dow Chemical Co., Enbridge Energy, Koch Industries, Occidental Petroleum Corp., Phillips 66 and Valero lodging support, according to a Senate witness list.Refiner Valero pressed for action during construction of the Diamond Pipeline, which is now carrying crude from Cushing, Oklahoma to the company’s refinery in Memphis, Tennessee. A Valero representative encouraged Oklahoma’s governor to enact the measure, with a phone call saying it would help deter “disruptive actions,” according to correspondence obtained by the watchdog group Documented.Project CompletedThe state measures gained momentum after high-profile protests against Energy Transfer Partners’ Dakota Access Pipeline in 2016 and 2017 that led to confrontations with police and more than 700 arrests. Activists led by the Standing Rock Sioux tribe camped along the oil pipeline’s route in North Dakota and sometimes locked themselves to construction equipment. At one point, police sprayed water, fired tear gas and shot rubber bullets at the demonstrators, with videos of the altercations shared widely online.After months of protests -- and after President Donald Trump reversed his predecessor’s rejection of the project -- Energy Transfer completed the line in 2017.The Trump administration is moving on a separate path to go after pipeline foes and blunt the power of states to block energy projects. Under Trump, the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration has asked Congress to allow 20-year-prison sentences for “damaging or destroying” pipelines.Property DamageKoch and other companies say action is needed to prevent harm to critical infrastructure -- and even to the activists themselves. Koch Companies Public Sector spokesman David Dziok said the company respects the right to peacefully protest and assemble, but “such demonstrations are not always peaceful” and “these laws are necessary -- not only for the safety of the communities in which we operate, but also for the safety of those exercising their rights to demonstrate.”Magellan, an Oklahoma-based pipeline operator, said by email it is “supportive of laws and regulations which are designed to protect critical energy infrastructure.”And Marathon Petroleum stressed in an emailed statement that “clearly, there have been many who agree that this type of legislation is necessary to counter threats of vandalism that can disrupt emergency services and people’s lives.”But Greenpeace’s Gibson said the state measures have been propelled by industry -- not a public clamor.“It’s the fossil fuel industry that wants to put its opponents in jail, not the average voter,” Gibson said. “We have never seen widespread rallies to make building petrochemical pipelines a national priority. This phenomenon illustrates the broad problem we have with undue corporate influence in U.S. politics, where the demand of a wealthy minority dictates the outcome for the majority.”Critics say the laws are drafted so broadly they could ensnare not just protesters but property owners and hikers on land shared with energy infrastructure. “Just being in the wrong place at the wrong time,” could put someone at risk of five years in jail, said Pam Spees, a senior staff attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights, which has filed a lawsuit challenging the Louisiana law.“If the concern really was about protecting the physical infrastructure, there are already laws on the books that do that,” Spees said. Instead, these measures “are clearly targeting protests and expression that are clearly focused on pipelines and opposition to pipelines.”(Updates with Magellan comment in 22nd paragraph.)\--With assistance from David Wethe, Ari Natter and Rachel Adams-Heard.To contact the reporter on this story: Jennifer A. Dlouhy in Washington at jdlouhy1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Jon Morgan at jmorgan97@bloomberg.net, Elizabeth WassermanFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- Zacks
The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Royal Dutch, ConocoPhillips, Valero, Phillips 66 and Marathon
The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Royal Dutch, ConocoPhillips, Valero, Phillips 66 and Marathon
- Simply Wall St.
Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO): Is It A Smart Long Term Opportunity?
As Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) announced its earnings release on 30 June 2019, it seems that analyst...
- Zacks
U.S. Oil Supplies Up for 2nd Week, Adds to Bearish Sentiment
A U.S. government report reveals that crude inventories rose by 1.6 million barrels for the week ending Aug 9, very different to the 2.7 million barrels drawdown that energy analysts had expected.
- GuruFocus.com
Ken Heebner's Firm Exits Zebra Technologies, Phillips 66
Guru's largest sales of the 2nd quarter Continue reading...
- Market Realist
Refining Sector Stocks MPC, VLO, PSX, and HFC Slump
Refining sector stocks Marathon Petroleum, Valero Energy, Phillips 66, and HollyFrontier have slumped following the earnings season.
- Kiplinger
5 lsquo;Strong Buyrsquo; Dividend Stocks With High Upside
The markets are looking perilous right now, with rising trade tensions and Federal Reserve uncertainty sparking heavy selling. While there has been a flight out of stocks generally - Standard & Poor's 500-stock index is off almost 6% over the past five days - dividend stocks are gaining a little appeal.Investors were caught off guard after the Federal Reserve lowered its benchmark interest rate by a quarter-point. Some were expecting a half-point cut, and others were expecting Fed Chairman Jerome Powell to signal another quarter-point cut later in the year (he didn't). Then America's trade war with China flared up after President Donald Trump threatened a new round of tariffs, which the Chinese replied to by cutting off imports of U.S. agricultural products and momentarily letting its yuan currency slip above a key level.Dividend stocks can help smooth out returns during volatile periods like this. Morgan Stanley private wealth adviser Christopher Poch is a firm believer in dividend investing. He writes, "In over 33 years in the wealth management industry, I have seen what works for the long-term, tax paying investor. The importance of dividends and the contribution to overall total return, for new and experienced investors alike, should not be overlooked.""Not only do dividend stocks as a group have less volatility year- to- year, they outperform nondividend paying stocks over time as well," Poch writes. "Over the last 90+ years, dividends have accounted for more than 40% of the total return equation."Here are five dividend stocks that TipRanks has identified as earning a "Strong Buy" rating by Wall Street's analyst community. Each of these stocks boasts relatively high yields between 3% and 5% - well more than the broader market's current 1.9% - and are projected to gain between 17% and 65% over the next 12 months. SEE ALSO: 57 Dividend Stocks You Can Count On in 2019
- Market Realist
Marathon Petroleum’s Earnings Beat Estimates
Marathon Petroleum (MPC) posted its Q2 results on August 1. Marathon Petroleum’s earnings per share of $1.66 were down about 27% year-over-year.
- Zacks
Marathon Petroleum (MPC) Beats on Q2 Earnings & Revenues
While Marathon Petroleum (MPC) posts better-than-expected results in Q2, the bottom-line declines y/y amid softer contribution from the Refining & Marketing segment, as well as higher costs.
- Zacks
Oil & Gas Stock Roundup: BP and TOTAL Report Q2 Earnings
European integrated majors BP plc (BP) and TOTAL S.A. (TOT) reported contrasting second-quarter earnings.
- Simply Wall St.
Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) Stock Goes Ex-Dividend In Just 4 Days
It looks like Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) is about to go ex-dividend in the next 4 days. Ex-dividend means...
- American City Business Journals
Government moves to dismiss Valero's $122M lawsuit
The federal government on July 18 filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit that San Antonio-based Valero filed in April.
- Thomson Reuters StreetEvents
Edited Transcript of VLO earnings conference call or presentation 25-Jul-19 2:00pm GMT
Q2 2019 Valero Energy Corp Earnings Call
- American City Business Journals
Gecko Robotics expands in Texas
The Pittsburgh-based robotics company will now have offices in Austin and Houston, and it does not plan to stop there.
- Market Realist
Phillips 66’s Earnings Surprise: EPS Rise, Beat Estimate
Phillips 66 (PSX) posted its second-quarter earnings results on July 26. Its earnings rose 8% YoY in the second quarter.
- American City Business Journals
City close to releasing finalized climate action plan
A city official said the plan, which has been in limbo since April, could be released in a matter of weeks.
- Zacks
Are Middle East Tensions Still a Key Driver of Oil Prices?
It is evident from recent events that tensions in the Middle East no longer play a big role in determining oil price movement.
- Market Realist
Why Valero Stock Slumped on Q2 Earnings
In the second quarter, Valero Energy’s refining earnings fell 28% YoY to $1.0 billion due to its weaker refining margin partly offset by higher throughput.
Motley FoolValero Energy Corp (VLO) Q2 2019 Earnings Call Transcript
VLO earnings call for the period ending June 30, 2019.
- American City Business Journals
Valero misses earnings expectations on year-over-year dip in 2Q profit
Less net income from oil and ethanol contributed to lower-than-expected profit for the recent quarter.
- Market Realist
Valero’s Earnings Fall but Beat the Estimate
Valero Energy posted its second-quarter earnings results on July 25. Its EPS fell 30% year-over-year to $1.5 in the second quarter.
- Zacks
Valero (VLO) Q2 Earnings, Sales Beat on Gasoline Crack Rebound
Valero Energy (VLO) sets a new record of processing more than 190,000 barrels per day of Canadian heavy crude oil during the second quarter.
- Zacks
Valero Energy (VLO) Tops Q2 Earnings and Revenue Estimates
Valero Energy (VLO) delivered earnings and revenue surprises of 10.22% and 8.55%, respectively, for the quarter ended June 2019. Do the numbers hold clues to what lies ahead for the stock?
