Based on the aggregated intelligence of 165,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, oil-refining giant Valero Energy
With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Valero's business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.
Valero facts
Headquarters (Founded) |
San Antonio, Texas (1955) |
Market Cap |
$9.7 billion |
Industry |
Oil and gas refining and marketing |
Trailing-12-Month Revenue |
$78 billion |
Management |
CEO William Klesse (since 2005) |
Return on Capital (Average, Past 3 Years) |
6.2% |
Cash / Debt |
$2.0 billion / $8.0 billion |
Dividend Yield |
1.2% |
Competitors |
ExxonMobil |
Sources: Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's) and Motley Fool CAPS.
On CAPS, 95.9% of the 4,549 members who have rated Valero believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include All-Stars CVagts and Geofiz, both of whom are ranked in the top 15% of our community.
Late last week, CVagts highlighted Valero's bouncing bottom line: "Earnings are finally turning around to the positive side, and as such, the stigma associated with it will fade. It currently has a stellar PEG, is selling for a fraction of book value, and isn't a company vulnerable to falling apart."
To be sure, integrated oil majors like Exxon, BP, and Chevron all reported significantly higher refining margins in the second quarter, as well. But with those demand tailwinds already showing signs of calming, my fellow Fool Mike Pienciak cautiously described Valero's story as "one of sequential and year-over-year improvement, overshadowed by a dubious longer-term outlook." Of course, with the stock sporting some pretty paltry price ratios, CAPS members like Geofiz think it's the perfect time to purchase Valero:
This is very much a turnaround type of pick. Valero has managed to continue their profitability through some very tough times. Size does matter, and [Valero] is well positioned to take advantage of just that. The balance sheet? Could be better by a considerable margin, but it appears that the heavy debt load is well covered. The real attraction is the discount to book, although I tend to think that values of some of the older refineries are probably a bit exaggerated. Even so, book is at least $21, giving a P/B of 0.8.
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