Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Reduces Position in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. trimmed its stake in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 20.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,979 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 764 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $467,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VLO. Putnam Investments LLC increased its position in Valero Energy by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 3,445,821 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $447,957,000 after buying an additional 122,207 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Valero Energy by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,063,923 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $352,292,000 after acquiring an additional 65,632 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Valero Energy by 37.6% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,558,750 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $266,040,000 after acquiring an additional 426,093 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Valero Energy by 3.6% during the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,548,476 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $264,309,000 after purchasing an additional 53,789 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Valero Energy by 2.3% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,541,534 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $263,124,000 after purchasing an additional 35,043 shares during the period. 78.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Valero Energy Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:VLO opened at $135.85 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $146.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $155.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. Valero Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $119.88 and a 12 month high of $184.79. The company has a market cap of $44.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.73, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.40.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The oil and gas company reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $32.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.40 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Valero Energy Co. will post 12.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 1st were given a dividend of $1.07 per share. This represents a $4.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 1st. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VLO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $187.00 to $169.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 14th. StockNews.com lowered Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Valero Energy from $165.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Valero Energy from $149.00 to $131.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.36.

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.