Cullen Investment Group LTD. Has $217,000 Stock Position in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Cullen Investment Group LTD. increased its holdings in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 16.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,772 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the period. Cullen Investment Group LTD.’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $217,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VLO. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Valero Energy by 4,908.0% in the third 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 grew its stake in Valero Energy by 11,318.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,076,349 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $145,339,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066,923 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 568,000 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 567,059 shares during the period. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Valero Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $70,352,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on VLO shares. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Valero Energy from $165.00 to $158.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Valero Energy from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Valero Energy from $146.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Valero Energy from $172.00 to $151.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded Valero Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $154.57.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Valero Energy stock opened at $134.18 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $131.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $138.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.42. Valero Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $116.84 and a 12 month high of $184.79. 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 (NYSE:VLO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The oil and gas company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $32.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.04 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 13.07% and a net margin of 2.74%. Valero Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $7.49 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Valero Energy Co. will post 8.86 EPS for the current year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th were issued a dividend of $1.07 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $4.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.