Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) Stock Position Raised by FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC

FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 2.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,765 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 669 shares during the period. FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $5,422,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. raised its stake in Valero Energy by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 4,981 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $648,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in Valero Energy by 5.8% during the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,005,346 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $142,468,000 after buying an additional 55,351 shares during the period. Stiles Financial Services Inc lifted its stake in Valero Energy by 49.7% in the 4th quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 7,615 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $991,000 after acquiring an additional 2,529 shares in the last quarter. MGO One Seven LLC boosted its position in Valero Energy by 198.8% during the 4th quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 16,605 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,159,000 after acquiring an additional 11,047 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Valero Energy by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,788,994 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $362,569,000 after acquiring an additional 342,218 shares in the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on VLO shares. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $138.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $130.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Argus cut Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Valero Energy from $187.00 to $169.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Valero Energy from $160.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.47.

Insider Buying and Selling at Valero Energy

In other news, Director Kimberly S. Greene sold 720 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.12, for a total transaction of $113,846.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,105,209.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

VLO stock traded up $0.54 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $158.50. 1,479,921 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,859,559. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The business has a 50-day moving average of $156.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $150.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.83 billion, a PE ratio of 7.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.42. Valero Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $112.16 and a 52 week high of $184.79.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.18 by $0.64. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 24.82% and a net margin of 5.01%. The firm had revenue of $31.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $32.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $8.27 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Valero Energy Co. will post 16.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 30th were paid a dividend of $1.07 per share. This represents a $4.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 30th. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is currently 21.20%.

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.