Zacks Investment Management Purchases 600 Shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Zacks Investment Management lifted its stake in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 16.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,246 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $573,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 39.1% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 150,894 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $20,375,000 after acquiring an additional 42,410 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 5.9% in the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 181,720 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $24,538,000 after acquiring an additional 10,197 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 256.5% in the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 10,292 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,390,000 after acquiring an additional 7,405 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 4,908.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,850,526 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $384,907,000 after acquiring an additional 2,793,607 shares during the period. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Valero Energy in the third quarter worth approximately $70,352,000. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VLO. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $146.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $172.00 to $151.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $192.00 to $176.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Valero Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $155.50.

Valero Energy Price Performance

VLO stock opened at $132.34 on Wednesday. Valero Energy Co. has a one year low of $120.21 and a one year high of $184.79. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $136.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $144.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.57. The company has a market capitalization of $41.90 billion, a PE ratio of 11.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.40.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The oil and gas company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.16. Valero Energy had a net margin of 2.74% and a return on equity of 13.07%. The firm had revenue of $32.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $7.49 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Valero Energy Co. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $1.07 per share. This represents a $4.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is 38.39%.

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.