The Dividend Daily

Macquarie reported on Wednesday that it has downgraded petroleum company, Valero Energy Corporation (VLO) to “Neutral.”

The firm has lowered its rating on VLO from “Outperform” to “Neutral.” This downgrade was part of a group of downgrades in the refinery industry including HollyFrontier Corporation (HFC), which was downgraded from “Outperform” to “Neutral,” and CVR Energy, Inc. (CVI), which was lowered to “Underperform” from “Neutral.”

The downgrades come as a result of the rising price of Renewable Identification Numbers (RIN). The increase in price is manageable for most companies, but still adds risk.

The firm noted that better positioned companies in the industry are Marathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC), Northern Tier Energy LP (NTI), Tesoro Corporation (TSO), and Western Refining, Inc. (WNR).

Valero Energy shares were down -$1.90, or -4.17% during Wednesday morning trading. The stock has increased 53% in the past year.

The Bottom Line
Shares of Valero Energy Corporation (VLO) have a 1.83% yield, based on Wednesday morning’s price of $43.78.

Valero Energy Corporation (VLO) is not recommended at this time, holding a Dividend.com DARS™ Rating of 3.3 out of 5 stars.

Be sure to visit our complete recommended list of the Best Dividend Stocks, as well as a detailed explanation of our ratings system here.