Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Acquires 304 Shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 1.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,497 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $3,443,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VLO. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 11,318.9% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,076,349 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $145,339,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066,923 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 37.6% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,558,750 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $266,040,000 after purchasing an additional 426,093 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 5.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,319,436 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $677,007,000 after purchasing an additional 237,347 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 17.6% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,550,010 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $238,841,000 after purchasing an additional 232,494 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Valero Energy during the first quarter worth $39,517,000. 78.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Shares of VLO stock opened at $140.16 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $44.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.57, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.39. 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 50-day simple moving average of $135.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $146.70. Valero Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $120.21 and a 52 week high of $184.79.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $32.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.04 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 2.74% and a return on equity of 13.07%. Valero Energy’s revenue was down 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $7.49 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Valero Energy Co. will post 9.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a $1.07 dividend. This represents a $4.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $149.00 to $131.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $172.00 to $151.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $146.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $173.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $155.86.

Valero Energy Company 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.