SUNOCO LP vs VALERO ENERGY CORP/TX, two Oil & Gas Refining stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
Sunoco, a fuel-distribution MLP, shows no clean return on equity, its structure built to pass cash through as distributions rather than compound book value; Valero, a pure refiner, earns 15.6% on equity and 6.8% on assets the ordinary corporate way. The businesses are adjacent downstream links, Valero processing crude into fuel, Sunoco distributing it through terminals and pipelines. Valero trades at 19 times earnings with a 1.7% dividend; Sunoco has no usable P/E and yields its 28.5% free-cash figure as distributions. Valero runs near-zero debt, Sunoco MLP-standard leverage. The pair prices a refiner against a distributor; Valero compounds on the crack spread, Sunoco tolls the fuel that leaves it, and their return structures are as different as their corporate forms.
Comparison updated 2026-07-11.
| Metric | SUN | VLO |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $66.32 | $259.41 |
| Market cap | $3.4B | $77.3B |
| Sector | Oil & Gas Refining | Oil & Gas Refining |
| Stage | Cyclical | Cyclical |
| Implied growth (priced in) | +2.7% | +9.4% |
| P/E | — | 18.9 |
| P/B | — | 2.87 |
| P/S | 0.11 | 0.62 |
| EV/EBITDA | 2.3 | 8.9 |
| Revenue growth | +40.5% | -2.4% |
| Operating margin | 8.1% | 5.3% |
| Net margin | 3.1% | 3.4% |
| Return on equity | — | 15.6% |
| Return on assets | 3.2% | 6.8% |
| Return on invested capital | 9907.9% | 15.9% |
| FCF yield | 28.5% | 7.0% |
| Dividend yield | — | 1.7% |
| Debt / equity | — | 0.04 |
| Current ratio | 1.40 | 1.58 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 1.28 | 9.40 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 7 / 9 | 7 / 9 |
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The stronger value is highlighted per metric where one is strictly better on that single number; it is not an overall verdict on either company. For informational and research purposes only. Not investment advice. Not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. boothcheck is not a registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results.