Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Cuts Holdings in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lowered its holdings in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 50,177 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 7,511 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $6,775,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of VLO. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Valero Energy by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,956,743 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,090,532,000 after buying an additional 192,397 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 5.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,319,436 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $677,007,000 after acquiring an additional 237,347 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 1.9% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,018,107 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $473,118,000 after purchasing an additional 56,989 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Valero Energy by 3.0% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,809,355 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $440,394,000 after purchasing an additional 82,539 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Valero Energy by 3.3% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,063,923 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $352,292,000 after purchasing an additional 65,632 shares during the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

NYSE VLO opened at $139.55 on Thursday. 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 Co. has a twelve month low of $120.21 and a twelve month high of $184.79. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $135.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $146.80. The firm has a market cap of $44.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.39.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The oil and gas company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.16. Valero Energy had a net margin of 2.74% and a return on equity of 13.07%. The business had revenue of $32.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.04 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $7.49 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Valero Energy Co. will post 9.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $1.07 per share. This represents a $4.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VLO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Valero Energy from $172.00 to $151.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Piper Sandler cut Valero Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $169.00 to $123.00 in a research report on Friday, September 20th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $145.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com cut shares of Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $173.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $155.86.

Valero Energy Company 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.