Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) Shares Sold by Jennison Associates LLC

Jennison Associates LLC cut its position in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 66.5% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 86,484 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 171,355 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $11,678,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VLO. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 2.8% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Valero Energy by 5.8% during the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Valero Energy by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,018,107 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $473,118,000 after buying an additional 56,989 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Valero Energy by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,809,355 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $440,394,000 after buying an additional 82,539 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Valero Energy by 3.3% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,063,923 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $352,292,000 after buying an additional 65,632 shares in the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on VLO shares. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Valero Energy from $149.00 to $131.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Valero Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $172.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $145.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Scotiabank decreased their target price 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, Bank of America started coverage on Valero Energy in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $155.86.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Valero Energy stock opened at $140.87 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $44.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.39. Valero Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $120.21 and a 12 month high of $184.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $136.59 and its 200-day moving average is $145.97.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The oil and gas company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.16. Valero Energy had a net margin of 2.74% and a return on equity of 13.07%. The company had revenue of $32.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $7.49 earnings per share. Valero Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Valero Energy Co. will post 8.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $1.07 per share. This represents a $4.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.39%.

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.