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Here's How Much You'd Have If You Invested $1000 in Valero Energy a Decade Ago

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How much a stock's price changes over time is important for most investors, since price performance can both impact your investment portfolio and help you compare investment results across sectors and industries.

The fear of missing out, or FOMO, also plays a factor in investing, especially with particular tech giants, as well as popular consumer-facing stocks.

What if you'd invested in Valero Energy (VLO - Free Report) ten years ago? It may not have been easy to hold on to VLO for all that time, but if you did, how much would your investment be worth today?

Valero Energy's Business In-Depth

With that in mind, let's take a look at Valero Energy's main business drivers.

San Antonio, TX-based Valero Energy Corporation is the largest independent refiner and marketer of petroleum products in the United States. The company was founded in 1980. It has a refining capacity of 3.1 million barrels per day across 15 refineries located throughout the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Moreover, Valero is a leading ethanol producer with 14 ethanol plants in the Midwest that have a combined capacity of 1.73 billion gallons per year. The products of the company are sold in the markets of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Latin America. The company’s brand names are carried by around 7,000 outlets.

The company organizes its business through three reportable segments, namely, Refining, Ethanol and Renewable Diesel.

Refining: The Refining segment was responsible for 92% of the total margin in 2022. It includes refining operations, wholesale marketing, product supply and distribution, and transportation operations. This segment is segregated geographically into the Gulf Coast, mid-continent, West Coast and Northeast regions.

Ethanol: The Ethanol segment includes sales of internally produced ethanol and distillers grains. Operations of this segment are geographically located in the Central Plains region of the United States. This segment was responsible for 3.6% of the total margin in 2022.

Renewable Diesel: In the first quarter of 2019, the company created this segment. The Renewable Diesel segment incorporates the operations of a consolidated joint venture, Diamond Green Diesel. Notably, the renewable diesel plant is North America’s largest biomass-based diesel plant and it is located in Norco, LA. The segment provided 4.5% of the total margin in 2022, which was supported by the expansion of the Diamond Green Diesel plant.

Bottom Line

Putting together a successful investment portfolio takes a combination of research, patience, and a little bit of risk. For Valero Energy, if you bought shares a decade ago, you're likely feeling really good about your investment today.

According to our calculations, a $1000 investment made in March 2013 would be worth $3,027.45, or a 202.75% gain, as of March 6, 2023. Investors should keep in mind that this return excludes dividends but includes price appreciation.

The S&P 500 rose 166.48% and the price of gold increased 12.57% over the same time frame in comparison.

Analysts are forecasting more upside for VLO too.

Among all the independent refiners, Valero offers the most diversified refinery base with a capacity of 3.2 million barrels per day in its 15 refineries located throughout the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. Importantly, Valero is best placed to reap profits from solid refining margins, mainly owing to the strategic refinery structure that enables it to use cheaper oil for more than half of its needs. The majority of Valero’s refining plants are located at the Gulf coast area from where there is easy access to the export facilities. The Gulf coast presence helped it to expand export volumes over the past years and gain from high distillate margins. Valero recently reported strong fourth-quarter results due to increased refinery throughput volumes. Valero intends to quadruple renewable diesel production capacity by 2023.

Over the past four weeks, shares have rallied 7.17%, and there have been 7 higher earnings estimate revisions in the past two months for fiscal 2023 compared to none lower. The consensus estimate has moved up as well.

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