Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Sells 1,181 Shares of Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 37.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,943 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 1,181 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $261,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Valero Energy by 12.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,881,222 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $5,135,043,000 after purchasing an additional 4,155,522 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Valero Energy by 6.9% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,437,765 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,510,586,000 after purchasing an additional 736,533 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Valero Energy by 276.9% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,795,436 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,425,754,000 after purchasing an additional 7,931,018 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Valero Energy by 34.1% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,905,145 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $647,823,000 after purchasing an additional 1,247,196 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Valero Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $529,864,000. 78.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VLO. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Valero Energy from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $175.00 in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $166.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Citigroup cut shares of Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $134.00 to $150.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $165.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $135.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.07.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Shares of VLO opened at $163.13 on Wednesday. Valero Energy Corporation has a 12 month low of $99.00 and a 12 month high of $178.43. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $151.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $137.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.97, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The oil and gas company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.62. Valero Energy had a net margin of 0.62% and a return on equity of 5.76%. The business had revenue of $29.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.71 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Valero Energy Corporation will post 7.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $1.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 188.33%.

Valero Energy 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.