Valero Energy Corporation $VLO Shares Purchased by Stephens Inc. AR

Stephens Inc. AR boosted its holdings in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 2.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 64,316 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 1,311 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $8,645,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,881,222 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,135,043,000 after purchasing an additional 4,155,522 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,437,765 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,510,586,000 after purchasing an additional 736,533 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 276.9% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,795,436 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,425,754,000 after purchasing an additional 7,931,018 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 34.1% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,905,145 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $647,823,000 after purchasing an additional 1,247,196 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the 1st quarter worth about $529,864,000. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Valero Energy Price Performance

VLO stock opened at $160.10 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Valero Energy Corporation has a 52-week low of $99.00 and a 52-week high of $178.43. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $156.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $139.44. The company has a market capitalization of $49.73 billion, a PE ratio of 66.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.05.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The oil and gas company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.62. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 5.76% and a net margin of 0.62%.The company had revenue of $29.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.71 EPS. Valero Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Valero Energy Corporation will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on VLO. TD Cowen downgraded Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $118.00 to $140.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Citigroup downgraded Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $134.00 to $150.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. UBS Group raised their target price on Valero Energy from $165.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Valero Energy from $171.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded Valero Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $173.27.

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.