Gries Financial LLC Acquires 293 Shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Gries Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 14.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,334 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 293 shares during the quarter. Gries Financial LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $366,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MGO One Seven LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $2,159,000 after purchasing an additional 11,047 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board lifted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 214.4% in the 4th quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 14,475 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,882,000 after acquiring an additional 9,871 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Valero Energy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $15,945,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 62.2% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 13,586 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,766,000 after acquiring an additional 5,209 shares during the period. Finally, Bollard Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Bollard Group LLC now owns 58,968 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $7,666,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on VLO. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Valero Energy from $165.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. StockNews.com downgraded Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Valero Energy from $187.00 to $169.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Mizuho upgraded Valero Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $165.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Valero Energy from $178.00 to $172.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Valero Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.50.

Valero Energy Stock Down 1.2 %

NYSE VLO opened at $139.63 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $149.61 and a 200-day moving average of $155.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.42. Valero Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $119.88 and a 52 week high of $184.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.48.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The oil and gas company reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.60 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $34.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $32.97 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 4.25%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.40 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Valero Energy Co. will post 12.86 EPS for the current year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 1st were paid a $1.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $4.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.07%. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.