Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) Shares Purchased by Profund Advisors LLC

Profund Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,350 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 815 shares during the period. Profund Advisors LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $2,720,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 5.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,319,436 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $677,007,000 after acquiring an additional 237,347 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the first quarter worth $39,517,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in shares of Valero Energy by 20.5% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,145,117 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $179,490,000 after buying an additional 194,974 shares in the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on VLO shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Valero Energy from $149.00 to $131.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. StockNews.com cut Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $165.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $175.00 to $171.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered shares of Valero Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $169.00 to $123.00 in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.07.

Valero Energy Trading Down 3.0 %

Shares of VLO stock opened at $134.46 on Monday. Valero Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $119.88 and a 1 year high of $184.79. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $145.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $155.21. 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 market cap of $43.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.66, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.40.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $34.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $32.97 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 4.25% and a return on equity of 21.01%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.40 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Valero Energy Co. will post 12.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 1st were issued a $1.07 dividend. This represents a $4.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 1st. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.20%.

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.