AGF Management Ltd. Acquires 56,567 Shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

AGF Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 112.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 106,979 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 56,567 shares during the quarter. AGF Management Ltd.’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $16,770,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. 9258 Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $222,000 after buying an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 12,124 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,576,000 after buying an additional 484 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 9,258 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,204,000 after buying an additional 1,467 shares in the last quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $567,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 351,082 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $46,954,000 after buying an additional 9,413 shares in the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Valero Energy in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $177.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Valero Energy from $187.00 to $169.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 14th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Valero Energy from $165.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Mizuho raised Valero Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $165.00 to $175.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.50.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

Valero Energy stock opened at $132.90 on Thursday. Valero Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $119.88 and a 12-month high of $184.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $147.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $155.50. The stock has a market cap of $43.46 billion, a PE ratio of 6.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.40.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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 previous year, the business posted $5.40 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Valero Energy Co. will post 12.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 1st were issued a dividend of $1.07 per share. This represents a $4.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 1st. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.20%.

Valero Energy Company 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.