Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Cuts Stock Position in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System cut its holdings in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 25,406 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 1,014 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $3,983,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mather Group LLC. raised its position in Valero Energy by 27.3% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 3,033 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $394,000 after acquiring an additional 650 shares during the period. Choreo LLC raised its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 188.0% in the 4th quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 5,541 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $720,000 after purchasing an additional 3,617 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its stake in Valero Energy by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 20,851 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,711,000 after purchasing an additional 1,491 shares during the last quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP grew its holdings in Valero Energy by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 3,899 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $507,000 after purchasing an additional 529 shares during the period. Finally, Alpha Cubed Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Valero Energy during the 4th quarter worth $214,000. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VLO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Valero Energy from $178.00 to $172.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Valero Energy from $171.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Mizuho raised shares of Valero Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $175.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Piper Sandler reduced 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 note on Friday, June 14th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.00.

Valero Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VLO opened at $146.73 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.42. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $150.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $155.51. Valero Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $119.88 and a twelve month high of $184.79.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The oil and gas company reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.60 by $0.11. Valero Energy had a net margin of 4.25% and a return on equity of 21.01%. The company had revenue of $34.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $32.97 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.40 earnings per share. Valero Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Valero Energy Co. will post 12.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 1st will be given a dividend of $1.07 per share. This represents a $4.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 1st. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.