Valero Energy Corporation $VLO Shares Bought by MUFG Securities EMEA plc

MUFG Securities EMEA plc grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 110.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 12,504 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,558 shares during the quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $2,036,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VLO. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in Valero Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in Valero Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc boosted its position in Valero Energy by 194.4% in the 4th quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 212 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. Finally, Basepoint Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Valero Energy

In other news, SVP Eric A. Fisher sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.60, for a total transaction of $95,440.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Valero Energy from $220.00 to $292.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on Valero Energy from $215.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Weiss Ratings raised Valero Energy from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Valero Energy from $215.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.65.

Valero Energy Stock Up 3.3%

Valero Energy stock opened at $252.78 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $75.06 billion, a PE ratio of 18.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $243.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $207.74. Valero Energy Corporation has a 1-year low of $125.10 and a 1-year high of $263.75.

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

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.88%.

About Valero Energy

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.