Vanguard Group Inc. Reduces Stake in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Vanguard Group Inc. lowered its position in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 1.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,749,385 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 343,804 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.10% of Valero Energy worth $5,419,303,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. lifted its holdings in Valero Energy by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 4,981 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $648,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. Stiles Financial Services Inc lifted its holdings in Valero Energy by 49.7% in the fourth quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 7,615 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $991,000 after acquiring an additional 2,529 shares during the period. MGO One Seven LLC lifted its holdings in Valero Energy by 198.8% in the fourth quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 16,605 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,159,000 after acquiring an additional 11,047 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Valero Energy by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,788,994 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $362,569,000 after acquiring an additional 342,218 shares during the period. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board lifted its holdings in Valero Energy by 214.4% in the fourth quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 14,475 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,882,000 after acquiring an additional 9,871 shares during the period. 78.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VLO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Valero Energy from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Citigroup upped their target price on Valero Energy from $160.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Valero Energy from $187.00 to $169.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Valero Energy in a research note on Thursday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $177.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.47.

Valero Energy Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:VLO traded up $0.55 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $148.33. 1,582,355 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,910,159. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $154.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $152.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market cap of $48.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.42. Valero Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $119.09 and a fifty-two week high of $184.79.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.18 by $0.64. The firm had revenue of $31.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $32.02 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 24.82% and a net margin of 5.01%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $8.27 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Valero Energy Co. will post 13.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 1st will be given a $1.07 dividend. This represents a $4.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 1st. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Valero Energy

In other Valero Energy news, Director Kimberly S. Greene sold 720 shares of Valero Energy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.12, for a total value of $113,846.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,105,209.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.