Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) Shares Purchased by Ascent Group LLC

Ascent Group LLC increased its position in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 19.1% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,735 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 758 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $742,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VLO. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $266,040,000 after purchasing an additional 426,093 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 237,347 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 17.6% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,550,010 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $238,841,000 after purchasing an additional 232,494 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the first quarter worth about $39,517,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in Valero Energy by 20.5% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,145,117 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $179,490,000 after acquiring an additional 194,974 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VLO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Mizuho reduced their price target on Valero Energy from $175.00 to $171.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Valero Energy from $178.00 to $172.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Valero Energy from $149.00 to $131.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Valero Energy from $165.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Valero Energy from $171.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.07.

Valero Energy Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of VLO opened at $135.03 on Tuesday. 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 Co. has a one year low of $119.88 and a one year high of $184.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.69, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $143.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $154.44.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The oil and gas company reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.60 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $34.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $32.97 billion. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 4.25%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.40 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Valero Energy Co. will post 10.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 1st were paid a dividend of $1.07 per share. This represents a $4.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date 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.