Empirical Finance LLC Has $3.58 Million Stock Position in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 2.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 20,943 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $3,575,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of VLO. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in Valero Energy by 3.5% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 12,358 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,751,000 after buying an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 11.8% during the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 3,133 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $444,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 7.2% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 67,391 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $9,550,000 after purchasing an additional 4,520 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 13.9% during the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 9,919 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,406,000 after purchasing an additional 1,213 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 10.5% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 83,290 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $11,803,000 after purchasing an additional 7,910 shares in the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Valero Energy

In related news, Director Kimberly S. Greene sold 720 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.12, for a total transaction of $113,846.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,105,209.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE VLO traded up $1.28 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $147.92. 2,306,085 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,097,415. The company has a market cap of $48.37 billion, a PE ratio of 7.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.42. Valero Energy Co. has a one year low of $112.67 and a one year high of $184.79. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $155.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $151.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.59.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.18 by $0.64. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 24.82% and a net margin of 5.01%. The firm had revenue of $31.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $32.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $8.27 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Valero Energy Co. will post 15.34 EPS for the current year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 30th were issued a $1.07 dividend. This represents a $4.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 30th. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is currently 21.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VLO. UBS Group raised their price objective on Valero Energy from $167.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Valero Energy from $187.00 to $169.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 14th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Valero Energy from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Bank of America upgraded Valero Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $156.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on Valero Energy from $138.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $169.53.

About Valero Energy

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.