Moody National Bank Trust Division Trims Stock Holdings in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Moody National Bank Trust Division cut its holdings in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,836 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 155 shares during the quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $1,206,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VLO. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 1.8% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,293,589 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $174,673,000 after acquiring an additional 22,571 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 89,762 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $12,121,000 after purchasing an additional 6,278 shares in the last quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 136.1% during the third quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 75,117 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $10,143,000 after purchasing an additional 43,299 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in Valero Energy by 2.8% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,956,743 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,090,532,000 after purchasing an additional 192,397 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Foster & Motley Inc. increased its holdings in Valero Energy by 23.3% in the third quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 20,802 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,809,000 after buying an additional 3,934 shares during the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Valero Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VLO opened at $133.49 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $42.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.42. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $131.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $138.75. Valero Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $116.84 and a fifty-two week high of $184.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The oil and gas company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $32.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.04 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 2.74% and a return on equity of 13.07%. Valero Energy’s revenue was down 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $7.49 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Valero Energy Co. will post 8.86 EPS for the current year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th were given a $1.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $4.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on VLO shares. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Valero Energy from $145.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $173.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $146.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $149.00 to $131.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $154.57.

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.