Norges Bank Invests $1.11 Billion in Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 6,828,073 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,111,542,000.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Valero Energy by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,273,517 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $897,869,000 after buying an additional 249,195 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Valero Energy by 5.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 4,143,672 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $705,502,000 after purchasing an additional 209,597 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Valero Energy by 2.3% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,904,181 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $324,206,000 after purchasing an additional 43,237 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the third quarter worth $275,239,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Valero Energy by 2.3% during the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 1,007,335 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $171,509,000 after acquiring an additional 22,322 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 8,311 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.69, for a total value of $1,892,331.59. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 42,242 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,618,080.98. This represents a 16.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on VLO shares. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Valero Energy from $255.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 4th. Barclays increased their target price on Valero Energy from $184.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Argus upgraded Valero Energy to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Valero Energy from $203.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $243.65.

Valero Energy Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of VLO stock opened at $245.08 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.81, a PEG ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 0.58. Valero Energy Corporation has a 1 year low of $125.10 and a 1 year high of $263.75. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $242.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $207.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $4.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.16 by $1.06. The firm had revenue of $32.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.38 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 3.37% and a return on equity of 15.94%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Valero Energy Corporation will post 26.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.88%.

Valero Energy Profile

Valero Energy Corporation is a San Antonio, Texas–based integrated downstream energy company that manufactures and markets transportation fuels, petrochemical feedstocks and other industrial products. The company’s operations focus on refining crude oil into finished fuels such as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, as well as producing asphalt and other refined product streams for commercial and industrial customers.

In addition to refining, Valero has significant operations in renewable fuels, including the production of ethanol and other biofuels, and it manages an extensive logistics network of pipelines, terminals, rail and marine assets to move feedstocks and finished products.