JP Morgan Upgrades Valero Energy Corp. On Improved Outlook

Valero Energy Corp.

will benefit from widening spread between light and heavy crude oil and an improved outlook, an analyst said Tuesday. JP Morgan's Phil Gresh upgraded Valero to Overweight, from Neutral and raised his target nearly 4 percent to $56 a share. At the same time Gresh downgraded Marathon Petroleum Corp.

to Neutral from Outperform, suggesting its recent share price has been "frothy." Also getting a downgrade to Neutral from Gresh Tuesday: Cenovus Energy (CVE). Gresh reiterated a Neutral rating on both Exxon Mobil Corp.

and Chevron Corp.

, although he raised his target 5.4 percent on Exxon to $97 and by a similar percentage on Chevron to $118. Maintaining an Overweight rating on Phillips 66

, Gresh cut his target on the company to $74, from $89. The analyst also remained Neutral on both HollyFrontier Corp.

and Tesoro Corp.

but cut his target on Holly by 11.6 percent to $38 and by 9 percent on Tesoro to $80 a share.