Stonebridge Financial Group LLC Makes New Investment in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 745 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $91,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Valero Energy by 4,908.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,850,526 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $384,907,000 after purchasing an additional 2,793,607 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 11,318.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,076,349 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $145,339,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066,923 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 900.2% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 631,095 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $85,217,000 after buying an additional 568,000 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 18.8% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,585,166 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $484,105,000 after buying an additional 567,059 shares during the period. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC bought a new position in Valero Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $70,352,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VLO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays cut their target price on Valero Energy from $146.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $165.00 to $158.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup decreased their target price 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. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $145.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Tudor Pickering upgraded shares of Valero Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $154.46.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Valero Energy stock opened at $130.95 on Thursday. Valero Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $116.84 and a fifty-two week high of $184.79. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $130.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $136.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The company has a market cap of $41.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.42.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.50. Valero Energy had a net margin of 2.13% and a return on equity of 9.58%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Valero Energy Co. will post 7.86 EPS for the current year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, January 30th will be given a dividend of $1.13 per share. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.45%. This is a positive change from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.07. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 30th. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is presently 53.30%.

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.