Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Increases Holdings in Valero Energy Corporation $VLO

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 2.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 76,815 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,057 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $20,006,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VLO. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its holdings in Valero Energy by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 6,670 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,648,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 5.8% in the second quarter. M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. now owns 916 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $239,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC now owns 975 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $159,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 32.9% in the fourth quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 206 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 1.1% in the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 4,810 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,253,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.17, for a total value of $2,011,275.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 19,742 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,294,212.14. This represents a 27.53% 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.

Valero Energy Price Performance

VLO stock opened at $341.36 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.23. Valero Energy Corporation has a one year low of $135.01 and a one year high of $346.09. The stock has a market cap of $98.29 billion, a PE ratio of 14.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 0.55. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $283.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $247.97.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The oil and gas company reported $12.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.11 by $2.43. The firm had revenue of $44.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.47 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 5.17% and a return on equity of 26.74%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 48.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.28 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Valero Energy Corporation will post 40.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st will be given a $1.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is 19.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on VLO shares. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $338.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Wolfe Research reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $203.00 price target on shares of Valero Energy in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $232.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $178.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on Valero Energy from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $288.00.

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.