Leuthold Group LLC Purchases Shares of 2,236 Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO)

Leuthold Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 2,236 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $351,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VLO. 9258 Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Valero Energy by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $222,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Valero Energy in the 4th quarter worth $662,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Valero Energy by 23.1% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 598,764 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $77,839,000 after purchasing an additional 112,178 shares in the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board grew its holdings in Valero Energy by 214.4% during the fourth quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 14,475 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,882,000 after purchasing an additional 9,871 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its position in Valero Energy by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 211,026 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $27,434,000 after buying an additional 962 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VLO. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective 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. Scotiabank increased 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. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $149.00 to $131.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Valero Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on Valero Energy from $171.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.36.

Valero Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:VLO opened at $138.67 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $44.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.87, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.40. Valero Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $119.88 and a 1 year high of $184.79. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $145.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $155.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $34.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $32.97 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 4.25% and a return on equity of 21.01%. Valero Energy’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Valero Energy Co. will post 12.3 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. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $4.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.09%. Valero Energy’s payout ratio 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.