Focus Partners Wealth Has $4.22 Million Stock Holdings in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Focus Partners Wealth lifted its position in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 68.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 34,199 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,915 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $4,222,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VLO. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Valero Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $669,400,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Valero Energy by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,725,700 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,257,024,000 after buying an additional 4,805,133 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Valero Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $132,469,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Valero Energy by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,850,859 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $472,077,000 after buying an additional 529,513 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Valero Energy by 22.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,864,418 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $351,151,000 after buying an additional 525,255 shares during the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $144.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $158.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $121.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Valero Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $127.00 to $154.00 in a report on Tuesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $151.93.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Valero Energy stock opened at $134.44 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $120.66 and a 200-day moving average of $128.49. Valero Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $99.00 and a 1-year high of $167.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a market cap of $42.11 billion, a PE ratio of 15.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.98.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The oil and gas company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by ($0.27). Valero Energy had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 2.13%. The firm had revenue of $28.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.54 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.82 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Valero Energy Co. will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be paid a $1.13 dividend. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 20th. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is 159.72%.

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.