Vanguard Group Inc. Grows Stock Position in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 16.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,725,700 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,805,133 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 10.97% of Valero Energy worth $4,257,024,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Valero Energy by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 123,356 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $14,751,000 after buying an additional 455 shares in the last quarter. Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Valero Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $1,226,000. Hudson Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Hudson Capital Management LLC now owns 31,792 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,897,000 after acquiring an additional 1,937 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Valero Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $274,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in Valero Energy by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 89,762 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $12,121,000 after purchasing an additional 6,278 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VLO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $160.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Tudor Pickering upgraded Valero Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Valero Energy from $165.00 to $158.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $149.00 to $144.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Valero Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $156.08.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:VLO opened at $132.00 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $133.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $133.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Valero Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $116.84 and a twelve month high of $184.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.57, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.36.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.50. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 2.13%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Valero Energy Co. will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 30th were paid a dividend of $1.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 30th. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.42%. This is a positive change from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.07. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.30%.

Valero Energy 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.