The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Decreases Stake in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lowered its holdings in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 707,267 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 14,670 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $95,502,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the second quarter worth $15,945,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 1.8% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,293,589 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $174,673,000 after purchasing an additional 22,571 shares during the last quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the second quarter worth $535,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 23.7% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 42,716 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $6,696,000 after purchasing an additional 8,198 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 66.0% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,781 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,377,000 after purchasing an additional 3,492 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

NYSE VLO opened at $138.55 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $43.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $136.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $145.51. Valero Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $120.21 and a twelve month high of $184.79.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The oil and gas company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $32.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.04 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 13.07% and a net margin of 2.74%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $7.49 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Valero Energy Co. will post 8.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a $1.07 dividend. This represents a $4.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VLO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Valero Energy from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Valero Energy from $175.00 to $171.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Valero Energy from $173.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler lowered Valero Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $169.00 to $123.00 in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price objective on Valero Energy from $145.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $155.86.

Valero Energy Company 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.