Sanctuary Advisors LLC Purchases 6,844 Shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its position in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 132,451 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,844 shares during the quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $18,664,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $87,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in Valero Energy by 3.9% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 19,449 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,049,000 after buying an additional 732 shares during the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA boosted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 21.4% during the 2nd quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 425 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 263,004 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $41,229,000 after purchasing an additional 11,078 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Valero Energy in the 2nd quarter worth $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on VLO. Piper Sandler lowered Valero Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $169.00 to $123.00 in a report on Friday, September 20th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $192.00 to $176.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Valero Energy in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $155.50.

Valero Energy Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of VLO opened at $129.69 on Friday. Valero Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $120.34 and a fifty-two week high of $184.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.57. The company’s fifty day moving average is $136.53 and its 200 day moving average is $143.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.06 billion, a PE ratio of 11.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.39.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The oil and gas company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $32.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.04 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 2.74% and a return on equity of 13.07%. The business’s revenue was down 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $7.49 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Valero Energy Co. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $1.07 per share. This represents a $4.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.39%.

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.