Valero Energy Corporation $VLO Shares Sold by Conning Inc.

Conning Inc. lessened its position in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) by 23.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 107,395 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 32,176 shares during the quarter. Valero Energy makes up about 1.3% of Conning Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Conning Inc.’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $41,627,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Balance Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the third quarter valued at $32,000. Latitude Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Valero Energy during the third quarter worth $34,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC boosted its stake in Valero Energy by 57.6% during the second quarter. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC now owns 104 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Valero Energy by 1,980.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC now owns 104 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Valero Energy by 3,400.0% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 105 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the period. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $300.00 to $434.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $485.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Valero Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Valero Energy from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Valero Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $379.94.

Key Headlines Impacting Valero Energy

Here are the key news stories impacting Valero Energy this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Valero maintained its quarterly dividend at $1.20 per share, payable December 21 to shareholders of record November 24. The annualized payout is $4.80 per share, supporting the stock’s income appeal. Valero dividend announcement
• Positive Sentiment: Valero’s latest earnings were exceptionally strong, with quarterly EPS of approximately $23.90 beating consensus and revenue exceeding estimates. The results represented a substantial improvement from the prior-year period, indicating powerful refining economics. Refiner stocks selloff article
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks recently included VLO among its Rank #1 growth stocks, citing strong momentum, earnings surprises and growth projections. Zacks growth stocks article

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VLO opened at $388.39 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $395.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $282.96. Valero Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $159.90 and a fifty-two week high of $461.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $111.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 0.59.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The oil and gas company reported $23.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $21.17 by $2.73. The company had revenue of $46.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $42.71 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 47.50% and a net margin of 8.44%. The business’s revenue was up 43.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.66 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Valero Energy Corporation will post 56.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 24th will be issued a $1.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 24th. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.80%.

Valero Energy Company Profile

Valero Energy Corporation is an international energy company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. The company’s primary business is refining and marketing transportation fuels, including gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and other products used by commercial, industrial and consumer customers.

Valero operates refineries in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Its refining operations also produce asphalt, petrochemical feedstocks and other petroleum-based products. The company markets fuel through wholesale channels and branded retail networks, including Valero, Beacon and Shamrock-branded locations.

In addition to conventional refining, Valero has businesses focused on renewable fuels.