Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Has $2.23 Million Stake in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 6.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,218 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,070 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $2,233,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its position in Valero Energy by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 13,095 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,605,000 after acquiring an additional 1,208 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. lifted its position in Valero Energy by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. now owns 42,371 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,194,000 after acquiring an additional 624 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its position in Valero Energy by 16.3% during the 4th quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 3,716 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $456,000 after acquiring an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 14,465 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,773,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 41,832 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,128,000 after purchasing an additional 2,124 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VLO has been the topic of several research reports. Tudor Pickering upgraded shares of Valero Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $165.00 to $158.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $149.00 to $144.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $160.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Valero Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $156.08.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

NYSE VLO opened at $129.20 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $40.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.24, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.36. Valero Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $116.84 and a twelve month high of $184.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $133.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $133.84.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.50. Valero Energy had a net margin of 2.13% and a return on equity of 9.58%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Valero Energy Co. will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 30th were given a $1.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 30th. This is a positive change from Valero Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.07. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.50%. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is 53.30%.

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.