Ballast Inc. Grows Stock Position in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Ballast Inc. boosted its position in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,924 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the quarter. Ballast Inc.’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $929,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VLO. RFG Advisory LLC raised its stake in Valero Energy by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 2,277 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Valero Energy by 34.1% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 14,023 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,823,000 after purchasing an additional 3,564 shares during the last quarter. Aspiriant LLC acquired a new position in Valero Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $223,000. Financial Counselors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 21.8% during the 4th quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 3,054 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $397,000 after acquiring an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 94.1% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 58,782 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $7,642,000 after acquiring an additional 28,501 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VLO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho raised shares of Valero Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $171.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $178.00 to $172.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.00.

Valero Energy Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE VLO traded up $0.41 on Monday, reaching $151.49. The company had a trading volume of 1,608,291 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,033,095. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.53 billion, a PE ratio of 7.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.42. Valero Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $119.88 and a 1 year high of $184.79. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $152.25 and a 200-day moving average of $155.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The oil and gas company reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.60 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $34.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $32.97 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 4.25%. Valero Energy’s quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.40 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Valero Energy Co. will post 13.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 1st will be issued a $1.07 dividend. This represents a $4.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 1st. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.20%.

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.