Washington Trust Bank Trims Stock Holdings in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Washington Trust Bank trimmed its holdings in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 3.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 50,769 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 1,702 shares during the quarter. Washington Trust Bank’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $6,855,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in Valero Energy by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,956,743 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,090,532,000 after buying an additional 192,397 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Valero Energy by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,319,436 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $677,007,000 after buying an additional 237,347 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Valero Energy by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,018,107 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $473,118,000 after buying an additional 56,989 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Valero Energy by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,809,355 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $440,394,000 after buying an additional 82,539 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Valero Energy by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,063,923 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $352,292,000 after buying an additional 65,632 shares in the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VLO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Valero Energy in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $177.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $175.00 to $171.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $192.00 to $176.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $165.00 to $146.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $145.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Valero Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $156.29.

Valero Energy Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE VLO traded down $0.98 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $137.73. 105,949 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,965,200. Valero Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $119.88 and a 12-month 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $136.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $147.77. The firm has a market cap of $44.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.39.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its quarterly 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. Valero Energy had a net margin of 2.74% and a return on equity of 13.07%. The company had revenue of $32.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $7.49 earnings per share. Valero Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Valero Energy Co. will post 9.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors 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 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.39%.

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.