Valero Energy shares climb as refining margin tailwinds stay in focus

Valero Energy Corporation (VLO) is up 4.4% today. Here is some analysis on what might have caused this price movement.

Analysis: The move appears tied to continued optimism around refining economics rather than a single fresh company announcement. Investors may be responding to Valero’s strong recent earnings, plans to keep refinery utilization high, and an industry backdrop where tight fuel inventories and healthy crack spreads can support refiner profits.

Details:

Valero reported first-quarter 2026 net income attributable to stockholders of $1.3 billion, or $4.22 per share, a sharp improvement from the year-earlier period.

In its first-quarter materials, the company showed stronger refining profitability in key regions, including Gulf Coast refining margin per barrel rising to $16.06 from $9.56 a year earlier.

Management said in late April that its refining system was expected to run between 92% and 95% of capacity in the second quarter, signaling confidence in operations and demand.

Weekly U.S. petroleum data released on June 24 showed crude inventories falling again while gasoline and distillate stocks remained below five-year averages, a backdrop that can help keep attention on refiners’ earnings power.

Sources:

Valero Energy, U.S. Energy Information Administration, Reuters

Disclaimer: This price movement analysis was generated with the help of AI. Please double-check the information provided for mistakes.

$VLO Insider Trading Activity

$VLO insiders have traded $VLO stock on the open market 5 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 0 have been purchases and 5 have been sales.

Here’s a breakdown of recent trading of $VLO stock by insiders over the last 6 months:

ERIC A FISHER (SVP) has made 0 purchases and 5 sales selling 23,711 shares for an estimated $5,651,617.

To track insider transactions, check out Quiver Quantitative's insider trading dashboard. You can access data on insider stock transactions through the Quiver Quantitative API insider transaction endpoint.

$VLO Hedge Fund Activity

We have seen 979 institutional investors add shares of $VLO stock to their portfolio, and 745 decrease their positions in their most recent quarter.

Here are some of the largest recent moves:

CHARLES SCHWAB INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC removed 9,007,160 shares (-75.4%) from their portfolio in Q1 2026, for an estimated $2,225,489,092
PRICE T ROWE ASSOCIATES INC /MD/ removed 1,890,894 shares (-18.9%) from their portfolio in Q1 2026, for an estimated $467,202,089
FMR LLC added 1,609,265 shares (+23.8%) to their portfolio in Q1 2026, for an estimated $397,617,196
STATE STREET CORP added 1,437,811 shares (+7.9%) to their portfolio in Q1 2026, for an estimated $355,254,341
MILLENNIUM MANAGEMENT LLC added 1,281,437 shares (+1850.8%) to their portfolio in Q1 2026, for an estimated $316,617,453
INVESCO LTD. removed 1,054,565 shares (-29.0%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $171,672,636
WELLINGTON MANAGEMENT GROUP LLP removed 1,020,610 shares (-43.8%) from their portfolio in Q1 2026, for an estimated $252,172,318

To track hedge funds' stock portfolios, check out Quiver Quantitative's institutional holdings dashboard. You can access data on hedge funds moves and 13F filings through the Quiver Quantitative API 13F endpoint.

$VLO Congressional Stock Trading

Members of Congress have traded $VLO stock 1 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 0 have been purchases and 1 have been sales.

Here’s a breakdown of recent trading of $VLO stock by members of Congress over the last 6 months:

REPRESENTATIVE GILBERT RAY CISNEROS, JR. sold up to $15,000 on 01/09.

To track congressional stock trading, check out Quiver Quantitative's congressional trading dashboard. You can access data on congressional stock trades through the Quiver Quantitative API Congress trades endpoint.

$VLO Price Targets

Multiple analysts have issued price targets for $VLO recently. We have seen 14 analysts offer price targets for $VLO in the last 6 months, with a median target of $260.0.

Here are some recent targets:

Joe Laetsch from Morgan Stanley set a target price of $255.0 on 06/12/2026
Nitin Kumar from Mizuho set a target price of $289.0 on 05/27/2026
Vikram Bagri from Citigroup set a target price of $259.0 on 05/01/2026
Jason Gabelman from TD Cowen set a target price of $255.0 on 04/27/2026
Betty Zhang from Scotiabank set a target price of $226.0 on 04/22/2026
Doug Leggate from Wolfe Research set a target price of $203.0 on 04/21/2026
Ryan Todd from Piper Sandler set a target price of $263.0 on 04/08/2026

This article is not financial advice. See Quiver Quantitative's disclaimers for more information. Note that there may be inaccuracies due to mistakes in ticker-mapping, and other anomalies.