Mirador Capital Partners LP Purchases Shares of 1,590 Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Mirador Capital Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 1,590 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $271,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VLO. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,961,603 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,269,949,000 after purchasing an additional 517,068 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Valero Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $570,428,000. Putnam Investments LLC raised its position in Valero Energy by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 3,445,821 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $447,957,000 after buying an additional 122,207 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Valero Energy by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,788,994 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $362,569,000 after acquiring an additional 342,218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. boosted its position in Valero Energy by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 2,389,654 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $310,655,000 after acquiring an additional 376,449 shares during the last quarter. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Valero Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Valero Energy from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Bank of America upgraded Valero Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $156.00 to $210.00 in a report on Friday, March 15th. Citigroup increased their price target on Valero Energy from $160.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Valero Energy from $187.00 to $169.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Valero Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.87.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Valero Energy news, Director Kimberly S. Greene sold 720 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.12, for a total transaction of $113,846.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,105,209.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Valero Energy Stock Up 0.8 %

Valero Energy stock opened at $157.98 on Tuesday. Valero Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $112.16 and a twelve month high of $184.79. The stock has a market cap of $51.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.42. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $157.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $150.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.18 by $0.64. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 24.82% and a net margin of 5.01%. The business had revenue of $31.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $32.02 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $8.27 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Valero Energy Co. will post 16.09 EPS for the current year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 30th were paid a $1.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $4.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. Valero Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.20%.

About Valero Energy

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.