Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC Takes Position in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC purchased a new position in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 11,401 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,414,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VLO. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,293,589 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $174,673,000 after acquiring an additional 22,571 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in Valero Energy by 7.5% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 89,762 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $12,121,000 after purchasing an additional 6,278 shares in the last quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 136.1% in the 3rd quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 75,117 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $10,143,000 after purchasing an additional 43,299 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $1,090,532,000 after purchasing an additional 192,397 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Foster & Motley Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 23.3% during the 3rd quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 20,802 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,809,000 after buying an additional 3,934 shares in the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Valero Energy Price Performance

Shares of VLO opened at $125.21 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $131.01 and a 200-day moving average of $139.26. Valero Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $116.84 and a 1 year high of $184.79. The company has a market capitalization of $39.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.42. 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 (NYSE:VLO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The oil and gas company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 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 company earned $7.49 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Valero Energy Co. will post 8.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th were issued a dividend of $1.07 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $4.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.42%. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is currently 38.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on VLO shares. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Valero Energy from $173.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $146.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $149.00 to $131.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price target on Valero Energy from $145.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $154.57.

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.