Ritholtz Wealth Management Buys 283 Shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its stake in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,901 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $1,547,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY increased its position in Valero Energy by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 16,630 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,357,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its position in shares of Valero Energy by 1.6% during the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 5,146 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $729,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its position in shares of Valero Energy by 0.8% during the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 10,000 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,417,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its holdings in Valero Energy by 40.3% in the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 303 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Finally, Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. grew its holdings in Valero Energy by 1.0% in the third quarter. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. now owns 9,425 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,301,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VLO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Valero Energy in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $167.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $138.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $154.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Mizuho lowered shares of Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $150.00 to $173.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $165.69.

Valero Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VLO opened at $170.69 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $145.77 and a 200 day moving average of $135.75. The stock has a market cap of $56.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.53. Valero Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $104.18 and a 12 month high of $172.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The oil and gas company reported $3.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.95 by $0.60. The company had revenue of $35.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.76 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 6.10% and a return on equity of 31.62%. Valero Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $8.45 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Valero Energy Co. will post 16.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 1st were given a dividend of $1.07 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 31st. This is a positive change from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.51%. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is presently 17.31%.

Valero Energy Profile

Valero Energy Corporation manufactures, markets, and sells petroleum-based and low-carbon liquid transportation fuels and petrochemical products in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latin America, Mexico, Peru, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Refining, Renewable Diesel, and Ethanol.