Valero price target lowered to $172 from $178 at JPMorgan

JPMorgan lowered the firm’s price target on Valero to $172 from $178 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. The analyst cut Q2 and Q3 estimates after updating North America refining models by marking to market Q2 cracks and crude differentials, and updated Q3 and Q4 assumptions to reflect the current environment and strip pricing. With inventories “firmly in the middle” of five year ranges for both U.S. gasoline and U.S. diesel today, with supply likely to remain robust in second half of 2024, and with demand dynamics seemingly not improving, a meaningful recovery in cracks over the near term “feels unlikely” absent an upside demand surprise or a major external supply event such as hurricane damage, the analyst tells investors in a research note.