D.A. Davidson & CO. Has $9.85 Million Stake in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

D.A. Davidson & CO. reduced its position in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 72,947 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 4,264 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $9,850,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Valero Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Lynx Investment Advisory acquired a new stake in Valero Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Valero Energy during the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in Valero Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Valero Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on VLO shares. Mizuho dropped their target price on Valero Energy from $175.00 to $171.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Valero Energy from $172.00 to $151.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $146.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Piper Sandler lowered shares of Valero Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $169.00 to $123.00 in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $155.86.

Valero Energy Price Performance

Valero Energy stock opened at $139.82 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $44.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.54, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Valero Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $120.21 and a 12 month high of $184.79. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $136.79 and its 200-day moving average is $145.56.

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

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $1.07 dividend. This represents a $4.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.39%.

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.