Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. Lowers Stake in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. decreased its position in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 17.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,760 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 1,200 shares during the period. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $778,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL purchased a new position in shares of Valero Energy during the 1st quarter worth about $219,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $39,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,063,923 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $352,292,000 after buying an additional 65,632 shares during the period. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the 1st quarter worth $969,000. Finally, Kennedy Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the 1st quarter worth $206,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on VLO. Scotiabank dropped 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. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $145.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Valero Energy in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Valero Energy from $172.00 to $151.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Valero Energy from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $155.86.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Valero Energy stock opened at $140.91 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $136.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $145.81. The company has a market cap of $44.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Valero Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $120.21 and a fifty-two week high of $184.79.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The oil and gas company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.16. The business 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $7.49 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Valero Energy Co. will post 8.92 EPS for the current year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a $1.07 dividend. This represents a $4.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.39%.

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.