Wesbanco Bank Inc. Raises Stake in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Wesbanco Bank Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,473 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 535 shares during the quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $874,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Collective Family Office LLC raised its position in Valero Energy by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Collective Family Office LLC now owns 4,040 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $690,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 3.4% in the second quarter. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,970 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $309,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Aua Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Aua Capital Management LLC now owns 2,261 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $386,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. OmniStar Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Valero Energy by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. OmniStar Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,543 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $712,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Everhart Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Valero Energy by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,366 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $214,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Valero Energy Stock Down 4.6 %

Shares of Valero Energy stock opened at $134.65 on Wednesday. Valero Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $119.88 and a 1 year high of $184.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The company has a 50-day moving average of $140.60 and a 200 day moving average of $152.23. The firm has a market cap of $43.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.69, a PEG ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 1.39.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The oil and gas company reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.60 by $0.11. Valero Energy had a net margin of 4.25% and a return on equity of 21.01%. The firm had revenue of $34.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $32.97 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.40 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Valero Energy Co. will post 9.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 1st were paid a $1.07 dividend. This represents a $4.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 1st. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is 24.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VLO. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Valero Energy from $173.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Valero Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $172.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective 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 dropped their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $165.00 to $146.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Valero Energy from $175.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $162.60.

Valero Energy 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.