Crescent Sterling Ltd. Cuts Holdings in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Crescent Sterling Ltd. cut its holdings in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,210 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 395 shares during the quarter. Crescent Sterling Ltd.’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $1,006,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 4,908.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,850,526 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $384,907,000 after acquiring an additional 2,793,607 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its holdings in Valero Energy by 900.2% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 631,095 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $85,217,000 after purchasing an additional 568,000 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Valero Energy by 18.8% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,585,166 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $484,105,000 after buying an additional 567,059 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Valero Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $70,352,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on VLO shares. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Valero Energy in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target 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. Barclays cut their price objective on Valero Energy from $146.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Mizuho lowered their target price on Valero Energy from $165.00 to $158.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Valero Energy from $192.00 to $176.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Valero Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $154.57.

Valero Energy Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE VLO opened at $127.27 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $130.99 and a 200-day moving average of $138.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Valero Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $116.84 and a 12 month high of $184.79. The company has a market cap of $40.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.42.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The oil and gas company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $32.88 billion for 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $7.49 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Valero Energy Co. will post 8.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th were given a dividend of $1.07 per share. This represents a $4.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 20th. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.39%.

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.