Blair William & Co. IL Raises Stock Holdings in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO)

Blair William & Co. IL increased its holdings in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 2.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,746 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 950 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $5,249,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 26.4% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 139,875 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $17,578,000 after purchasing an additional 29,215 shares during the period. Barometer Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Valero Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $1,134,000. Texas Yale Capital Corp. boosted its stake in Valero Energy by 18.2% in the fourth quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. now owns 55,078 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,752,000 after acquiring an additional 8,500 shares during the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,492,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in Valero Energy by 18.9% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 20,106 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,465,000 after purchasing an additional 3,200 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy Stock Down 2.4%

VLO opened at $133.54 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $139.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $131.08. Valero Energy Corporation has a 52 week low of $99.00 and a 52 week high of $155.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock has a market cap of $41.48 billion, a PE ratio of 55.64, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 1.03.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The oil and gas company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.62. The company had revenue of $29.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 5.76% and a net margin of 0.62%. Valero Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.71 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Valero Energy Corporation will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a $1.13 dividend. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 188.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on VLO shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Valero Energy from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Citigroup downgraded Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $134.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Valero Energy from $158.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Barclays increased their price objective on Valero Energy from $140.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Valero Energy from $151.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Valero Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $154.47.

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.