Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Decreases Stake in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System cut its stake in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 6.6% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 18,500 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 1,300 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $2,900,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Valero Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $570,428,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 37.6% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,558,750 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $266,040,000 after buying an additional 426,093 shares during the period. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. grew its stake in Valero Energy by 18.7% in the 4th quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 2,389,654 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $310,655,000 after acquiring an additional 376,449 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 721.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 337,911 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $43,927,000 after purchasing an additional 296,771 shares during the period. Finally, Canoe Financial LP acquired a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the fourth quarter worth $34,580,000. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho upgraded Valero Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $165.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Valero Energy from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Valero Energy from $178.00 to $172.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $187.00 to $169.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on Valero Energy from $165.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given 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.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.00.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Valero Energy stock opened at $145.87 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $47.70 billion, a PE ratio of 7.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $151.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $155.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.48.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 4.25%. The firm had revenue of $34.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $32.97 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.40 earnings per share. Valero Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Valero Energy Co. will post 12.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 1st will be paid a dividend of $1.07 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $4.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.93%. Valero Energy’s payout ratio is 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.