Silverlake Wealth Management LLC Takes $201,000 Position in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Silverlake Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,179 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VLO. MV Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Valero Energy by 25.3% in the first quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,240 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH boosted its stake in Valero Energy by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 54,353 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $9,278,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008 shares during the period. Cullinan Associates Inc. grew its holdings in Valero Energy by 54.5% in the 1st quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. now owns 4,820 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $823,000 after buying an additional 1,700 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in Valero Energy by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,541,534 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $263,124,000 after buying an additional 35,043 shares during the period. Finally, Claro Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 3.0% during the first quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 3,154 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $538,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Valero Energy

In other news, Director Kimberly S. Greene sold 720 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.12, for a total transaction of $113,846.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 13,314 shares in the company, valued at $2,105,209.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Valero Energy stock opened at $158.55 on Thursday. Valero Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $112.16 and a 52-week high of $184.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $157.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $150.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.42.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.18 by $0.64. The firm had revenue of $31.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $32.02 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 5.01% and a return on equity of 24.82%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $8.27 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Valero Energy Co. will post 16.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 30th were given a dividend of $1.07 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $4.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on VLO shares. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $138.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $167.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Argus cut shares of Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Valero Energy from $184.00 to $179.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Valero Energy from $173.00 to $171.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.47.

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.