Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Has $242,000 Stock Position in Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) by 98.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,541 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 120,904 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $242,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of VLO. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Valero Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $570,428,000. Putnam Investments LLC raised 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 purchasing an additional 122,207 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Valero Energy by 3.3% during the first 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 purchasing an additional 65,632 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 426,093 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted 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. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on VLO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Valero Energy in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $177.00 price target on the stock. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $165.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Valero Energy from $171.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.50.

Valero Energy Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of VLO opened at $134.26 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $146.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $155.48. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $43.01 billion, a PE ratio of 6.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.40. Valero Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $119.88 and a 12-month high of $184.79.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The oil and gas company reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $32.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.40 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Valero Energy Co. will post 12.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Valero Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 1st were paid a $1.07 dividend. This represents a $4.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. 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.