Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. Lowers Stake in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,221 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 110 shares during the period. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $885,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 5.7% during the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,356 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $213,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Quad Cities Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 1.6% in the third quarter. Quad Cities Investment Group LLC now owns 4,851 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $655,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 0.9% in the third quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,784 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,169,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. lifted its position in Valero Energy by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 3,461 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $543,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Century Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 1,708 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $231,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VLO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Valero Energy from $173.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $145.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered 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 cut their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $146.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut Valero Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $169.00 to $123.00 in a report on Friday, September 20th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $155.07.

Valero Energy Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of VLO stock traded down $2.28 on Monday, hitting $121.98. The stock had a trading volume of 2,139,951 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,879,638. Valero Energy Co. has a one year low of $116.84 and a one year high of $184.79. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $131.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $139.86. The company has a market cap of $38.62 billion, a PE ratio of 10.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The oil and gas company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $32.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.04 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 2.74% and a return on equity of 13.07%. The company’s revenue was down 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $7.49 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Valero Energy Co. will post 8.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th were paid a dividend of $1.07 per share. This represents a $4.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 20th. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.